What remains
by Najouafan
Summary: Have you ever imagined taking revenge on the ones who despised you the moment they considered you as useless? Is Konoha having another clan massacre as the Uchiha did? Hinata's personality changed for the bad and Neji wants her old self back. Nejihina
1. Chapter 1: The return

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Just Herou and Hirou as it was me who imagined them! **

_So here is my new work. Just so you'll understand, I always wanted to know what a Neji-like Hinata would be like and here was the result! **Warning**: she is really OOC here, so don't expect a shy and timid Hinata! Enjoy~_

**Chapter 1 : **The return

Strong, heavy raindrops were falling onto the ground. The mud around the wounded body was now dirtier than ever and was beginning to stick on the violet coloured jacket which was in most parts shredded. The sky falling white fluid began mixing with the red one dripping out of the body. How many months had passed? Or years? At the beginning nothing seemed to change, no matter how much the body overexerted itself, no matter how much it got wounded, scratched, beat or was even dying. Even after being so strongly abused, each time a new blow came to open a new wound, the body just became stronger and stronger, getting used to flesh wounds. Lying on the floor, looking at the sky with blurry eyes, the body's hand began to move. A kunai was being held by the right hand and the grip around it tightened to feel if the fingers were undamaged. They weren't harmed but just tired. Finally, having made sure the hand could still move, not more than three seconds passed as the kunai was already being thrown to the near lying tree.

The kunai landed on the upper part of the huge sized oak tree that had been pierced by many other kunai thrown by the same person. It wasn't long after that the last kunai infected the tree with a faint amount of chakra which had been placed in it by a certain someone. Soon after, the weakened tree left his brownish clothing to darken into a shade of black colour. The rain continued to pour down with as much intensity as it once started. With each raindrop that fell on the body, it felt like a needle being pierced into it. The tree began to rotten away and as expected, died in a short amount of time.

A smile of satisfaction being shown on the lips, the body began to slowly drift into sleep, knowing it could not stand due to the harsh training and abusing it has been going through. Before entering into the dream world and fearful nightmares, a realization came to mind. It was finally time to return over there. It was finally time to start and change things, many things.

In the hidden village of Konoha, the streets were bustling with people. Vendors were selling their items and the talented customers were making good deals, receiving the item at a half-price while the more "weak" ones where paying the full price or the double, as they weren't smart enough to know that a few stands away was the very same object just cheaper. Neji Hyuga was wandering in town, searching with his pure white eyes an object he could give as an offering to the next heiress in line. He couldn't forget Hinata's face the day his father made her lose the right to be the Hyuga clan leader. She was calm and composed, but he knew that inside her she was fighting against the urge to run away and cry in the darkest corner, blaming herself for failing to live up to her father's expectations. Well at that moment, he didn't care the less about her. All he could think was that she deserved it; he was full of hate and despised her the most for having been the person that caused his father's death. But after the Chuunin's exams he finally knew that even a caged bird could one day, flap its wings and fly to freedom.

He stopped at a plain looking stand, his eyes set on a beautiful blue marine necklace with a butterfly medal at the centre. Not willing to fuss any more about the question if it would or not please her, he gave the right amount of money to the vendor and then, stuck the purchased item into his pocket. Walking away with no destination in mind, he began to look up at the sky and just think about his life. It has been a long time since he didn't do it; he just began with this little activity about two years ago when she went missing.

It was on a cold night, he remembered him shivering to the bones with only a thin cotton blanket wrapped around him. He had wanted to take a stroll around and maybe hoping to feel asleep, but for some reason his body seemed affected by some sort of adrenaline and extra energy as if he had drunk a litre of coffee. He was walking down the outside halls, catching the cold and freezing winter winds when he suddenly spotted a shadow making its way out of the compound to the front gate. Not wanting to take any risk on it being an intruder who took what it wanted and then flee away, Neji ran at full speed towards the front gate. Running on the light snowy ground he clutched his teeth to resist the cold sharpness he felt against his bare feet.

As he approached the shadowy person, he could make out the form and noticed that it belonged to a woman with long blue darkish hair. When he was close enough he made a high leap to the sky to position himself in front of the person. Landing onto his two feet he looked at the person ahead of him and widened his eyes in surprise. It was the last person he thought of seeing this late at night. Hinata Hyuga.

"Hinata-sama, may I know why you have the bag you carry when you go to missions and why you're heading out of the compound this late?" Neji questioned her and giving her the stern look he always gave when he was expecting a convincing answer.

"Neji-nii-san…" She looked at the ground, fidgeting with her both index fingers as she always did when being nervous. Neji kept his gaze on her, he wasn't going to budge one feet until she answered him even if it meant freezing all of his ten toes, he had already endured much greater pain compared to that in the past, this was nothing.

"Uhmm, I…" The blue haired girl now looked into his eyes, looking more determinate than ever. "I-I decided t-to go on a j-journey to t-train."

Neji narrowed his eyes in confusion. What her cousin just stuttered out were words he never thought of hearing from her. Why the hell would she go on a journey to train and alone? Wait now that he noticed nobody stood at the gates waiting for her. Then again, they could have said that they'd meet at some other place.

"Are you going alone Hinata-sama?" Even so he felt the need to ask, he was assigned to protect her and even if he wasn't so much pleased by the idea, it was his duty as a mere branch member to serve the main house members, especially Hinata.

After shivering from the wind that howled into the night sky, Hinata straightened herself, parting her index fingers and laying them against her sides. "Y-yes."

"Is it really true? If yes then why do you want to go on a journey this late at night and without anyone knowing? I suppose you haven't talked with your father about it am I right?" By the "I got caught" look that she gave, Neji knew that he had hit right. He still couldn't understand why she suddenly wanted to go on a journey and train. It seemed so strange… After all, he couldn't let her go; he was assigned to protect her and what will the main members say when they'll know about it?

"P-please Neji-nii-san, I h-have to g-go! This i-is something I d-decided m-myself." She tried as hard as she could to look as determinate as ever, but her stuttering made it hard for Neji to believe it actually was.

"Out of the question. I won't let you leave on your own for such a foolish reason. Now come I will accompany you to your rooms." He took her by the arm and began leading her back to the main house as she softly whispered under her breath. It was barely audible, but he did catch the most important part.

"I'm s-sorry Neji-nii-san." With that Neji felt a pain behind his neck and fell into the ground, his face sideways into the coldness. Hinata had just hit him in the back of his neck which paralyzed his body completely. The last thing he remembered was the sound of her gentle footsteps, rushing away out of the Hyuga compound and out of the front gate. The next day, he was brought back to his room by other branch members who were strolling down the hallways late into the night after a long round of Blackjack among branch members. By the smell on his clothes he had noticed the strong alcohol and cigarettes scent emanating from them and he suddenly felt ill.

He had caught a cold and the need of wanting to throw up wasn't entirely because of the disgusting scent escaping from his clothes, but because of his 39 degrees fever. When later on, some branch member woman who served the main branch came looking if everything was alright and he felt himself opening his mouth against his will to ask if she had seen Hinata around the main house. Thus, this led him to explain the maid everything about the night before and as he expected from the maids face, he knew that the alert of Hinata going missing had already been given. What he didn't know was that Hinata's father wasn't the one that gave out the alert as he sooner found out. Being healed from his cold, he directly went to Hiashi to inform him personally about that famous night.

The clan leader was training the next heiress to be and didn't look at him a single time while he was reporting to him. It didn't bother Neji to be outfaced by him, but what he couldn't understand was the fact that even if Hiashi saw in his eldest daughter a failure and a weakling, he was cold enough to say that it didn't concern him what his daughter did anymore. She went missing and he didn't even give a hint of concern nor did he look worried. All he said to end the conversation was a simple detestable sentence, one Neji would say back on the days where he still had the hatred feelings towards his cousin, not that it all entirely blew away though.

"As frail and weak as she is, she will eventually come back and I won't guarantee that we'll see her alive."

He broke free from his thoughts when he felt someone bumping into him. "Naruto! Can't you look where you're going? Apologize to…" The big green eyes of the pink haired girl met with Neji's white one's and immediately widened in surprise. "Neji-kun?"

Naruto, who had been sniffing the sweet aroma of the ramen escaping from the bag he held, wasn't listening to his team-mate until she mentioned Neji's name. "Neji? Whatcha doing here?" He shouted in the middle of the road, getting all the attention of the nearby passers-by.

Sakura, obviously embarrassed by the curious looks, mentioned for the two to follow her in a quiet place. Arrived at a quiet corner of the village, Sakura sat down on one of the benches displayed here and there, but not after having punched the attention-drawing blonde boy.

She sighed before looking up to Neji from the bench. "Sorry about this _**idiot's**_ behaviour. Even though he is already eighteen, he didn't change one bit!" Sakura glared at Naruto, emphasizing her words so he could her them loud and clearly.

This time it was Neji's time to sigh, what was he actually doing here with this complexed couple? Anyone could see that Naruto's once longing and now lustful glances towards Sakura and Sakura's annoyed facial expression whenever he did so, could just mean one thing. Everybody knew of Naruto's unrequited love, but it slowly turned to a mutual one when two years ago he finally confessed for the seventy fourth time, yes he had been counting every single one of them. They were going out for two years and they were exactly like the time when they were still kids, the only thing that changed was the fact that they went out together more often. Of course, Neji didn't know what they would do at night and truthfully it didn't concern him the least.

Seeing how they now fought and argued together, Neji almost felt his lips turn upwards for a smile. _"This is one odd way to show love."_ He nearly chuckled at the thought, but no he restrained himself of doing so, Neji. Did. Not. Chuckle. Neji wasn't a person with a large history of love experiences. The only time where he had to deal with love was when one day his female team-mate came up to him to confess about her until now locked feelings. He refused, of course, why accept when he himself never felt the least of passion towards her? Well, there are people who are just as able to use this opportunity for intimate purposes.

Once again, the Hyuga let out a sigh, seeing how their argue would probably never end. He decided to wait and take every chance of distraction between the two love birds, to slowly tiptoe away. He didn't get that chance; Sakura had stopped the useless fight and now approached Neji with a worried look. He did already know what she would say next; everyone who wanted to ask the famous question did exactly the same.

"Neji-kun, I probably already know the answer, but have you got any news of Hinata-san?" Neji closed his eyes in an attempt to choose a different answer. The village had been shocked by the disappearance of the once Hyuga clan heiress and the Hokage gave the alert that if anybody had seen her, he had to report it as soon as possible. Naturally, rumours started to spread and not all were nice ones. Rumours were always a lead to lies and misunderstandings and the people who spread it were mainly people who hated the Hyuga clan. Nothing was said about Hinata, but all the rumours were about her father, that he probably made her disappear because she wasn't needed anymore. The rumours continuously spread during the first three weeks, and then it started to lessen all the more until nobody talked about it anymore and the villagers followed their natural flow of life like nothing ever happened. All the people who knew Hinata personally gave up the search after a few months, hoping she will eventually one day come back. The two more concerned were her team-mates, Shino and Kiba. Even today they didn't give up the search when they went on missions.

"No, nothing new was sent to the Hyuga administration and I took a look at the scroll of the recently deceased people in different areas and nothing was found." Sakura looked down at the ground in disappointment while Naruto showed a hurtful look on his face. _"That's what everybody does when I answer them…It's getting slowly irritating to be the bearer of no news."_ At every occasion Neji had, he always went looking into the scroll of the recently deceased people and every time he hoped not to see her name on it. He did it not because he was asked to, but he did it out of simple duty and a part of him would always tell him, despite the fact that he still felt some resentment towards his cousin, that he over these few years thought of her as a friend. As strange as it may sound that was what he felt right now, and someone always told him to listen to his heart in such times.

Naruto gripped Sakura's hand firmly in his and to Neji's surprise, she didn't back off but returned his grip with one of her own. _"Well there are times when they look like a couple…interesting."_ Not wanting to disturb the moment he decided to go back to the Hyuga compound.

Leaping from one roof to the other, Neji thought of why he actually bought a present for the new heiress. Today was the celebration to make her officially the new heiress in line for the Hyuga clan and because Hanabi requested a present, he had gone out to fulfil whatever the heiress desired. Hiashi had talked with him and asked if he could be Hanabi's protector, the little girl was delighted as she took a liking on her nii-san, but Neji refused. His father had wanted him to protect Hinata and so he did and will always do even with her not present he would still protect her from afar, starting with breaking down all bad rumours that could spread any time about his cousin. However, the answer did not please the clan leader and so he was assigned to just guard his younger cousin in case something would happen.

The cold mid-November wind started to kick in and like every cold wind that brushed against Neji's warm cheeks made him remember that famous night. Will she ever come back? And if so, will she return alive?

At the Hyuga compound, a little figure was waiting for him by the front gate. As soon as she saw him, she ran with all her morning energy towards her cousin.

"Neji-nii-san! Come in, I can't wait for the party to start!" The girl jumped on the spot and was gripping his clothes anxiously.

"Calm down, Hanabi-sama. The celebration will only start at noon." He gave her one of his genuine smiles and Hanabi blushed lightly.

With a hand still gripped on his forearm, the young heiress guided him into the Hyuga compound and towards the little garden filled with maintained flowers spreading all around in rainbow colours.

Watching the girl play around the flowers, Neji felt himself tired out; children were a lot to deal with. He was already past the age of marriage and proposals of all kinds of families, including Tenten's were sent to him and here again, he declined them all. When they had asked him why he always declined it, he would always tell them that there was already somebody waiting for him. He himself didn't know who it was; destiny would tell him when the time comes.

The carefree atmosphere around Hanabi made Neji remember how Hinata used to play like this a lot when she was still a child. "Hanabi-sama, may I ask you something?" Strangely, the memories of childhood days made him want to ask a question he'd wanted to ask months ago.

"Sure, you can ask anything! And if it's about marriage then I can wait until I'm eighteen." She beamed at him and Neji just sighed her last sentence away. He knew that the little heiress had become much attached to him for these last two years, to a point where he asked himself if it was just brotherly affection or if she was actually in love with her cousin. Either way, he decided to continue with a serious tone on his voice.

"Do you miss Hinata-sama?" Hanabi's expression didn't change and instead of being sad, she narrowed her eyes, nearly resembling a look of disgust, what surprised Neji the most.

"No, I don't. Father says she's a traitor to the Hyuga clan and that she ran away to tell all the secrets and techniques about the Byakugan to bad people. That's why I am chosen to be the next heiress of the Hyuga clan. With my strength I'll do anything to keep the Hyuga legacy as great as it ever was, regardless of what my sister did or is going to do. I despise her the most for what she's done to us." Her words pierced into Neji's mind like words of complete hate. The way she said these few sentences were the one's that should never come out of a mouth belonging to an innocent child. Her father was putting his hate towards his older daughter into his young one. All that in order to build up a powerful machine with no feelings, no weakness and no reasoning from a child's body. Everything that Hinata couldn't do or wouldn't do was now transmitted to her sister.

Neji was utterly shocked, but kept his straight face even though mentally everything he knew about the Hyuga legacy was slowly crumbling together.

Noon was approaching and Neji held onto the necklace he bought for Hanabi in his right pocket. Everyone was gathered in the huge room in the Hyuga compound, it was always displayed and ready to use for common celebrations. Out of all the people, Neji recognized the elders sitting together and discussing the clan's future, a few branch members gathered at the back of the room as they weren't allowed to be up front, other branch members, maids this time serving the tea and appetizers and lastly he found Hanabi wearing a fine butterfly printed kimono, sitting on what resembled a little throne. It was really odd, how the foolish little desires of the heiress was so easily executed.

Neji started to walk up to her, when he heard the harsh sound of a spoon touching a half-filled glass. He gritted his teeth at the irritating sound and looked to the person which deserved to meet with the killing glare Neji was about to give. Hiashi had been the one making the sound, catching everyone's attention in the room. With everybody silent, Hiashi began his formal introduction to Hanabi's official nomination to heiress.

With a silent sigh and a roll of his eyes, Neji sat down on one of the chairs displayed in the room and started to listen to the long speech to come. When finally Hiashi was coming to the end of the speech, Neji lifted himself from the chair, rubbing his back which itched to be straightened by its owner. As soon as he had lifted himself he saw a person with a black cape around his shoulders, passing through him at a quickened pace. The mild wind the person had left trailing behind contained a scent of lilac perfume that Neji knew all too well, but where had he smelt it before?

"And so, I am honoured to proclaim my daughter, Hanabi Hyuga, as the new hei-" "Allow me to interrupt this fascinating ceremony, but I have an announcement of high importance to make." Hiashi was cut down by what seemed to be a woman's voice. Everybody in the room looked towards the same person and Neji widened his eyes, it was the same person who had just passed by him. Just who was this mysterious someone?

Hiashi gave the person in front of him a cold glare and began fuming with rage. "Who are you and don't you feel ashamed of interrupting this important ceremony? Show yourself and quit hiding under that hideous cape!"

The person smirked under the cape's hood and suddenly leapt onto the giant sized table placed at the centre of the room. "Do you not recognize me? Humph, I figured as much. The important announcement is going to be said in this moment. Listen carefully; I am not going to repeat myself." The hooded woman's voice echoed in the room and more Neji heard the frequencies of the voice, more he was approaching to get the person's face, but it was still difficult because of the deep feminine intonation of the voice.

Hiashi faced the unknown visitor with eagle eyes and at every moment Neji was sure he'd call the security, but strangely so, he didn't. "Quit playing games! Tell us who you are!"

"I guess I have no choice then…" Her hand rose up and with one swift movement revealed the body that had been hiding under the shadows of the cape. "I am your daughter, Hinata Hyuga!"

Neji felt ill. It was just nearly a few minutes ago that he like anybody else saw the missing Hyuga's clan leader's daughter, Hinata. "Hinata-sama." He mumbled her name under his breath, not stopping to make comings and goings in the hallway. Hinata was locked inside a room with her father and Neji still couldn't believe the person inside those paper walls was really the real Hinata. She still had those mesmerizing lavender eyes which matched her long dark blue hair perfectly and long luscious lips curves around her mouth, but something changed about her…attitude. Her voice was deeper as it showed more self-confidence and her attitude was far from a shy nature one.

As far as Neji could think, he didn't see Hinata speak without at least stutter one or two words out, nor did he ever see her act on an impulse like jumping on a table, gathering all the attention and above all, trying, no, stopping Hanabi's nomination completely. Could it be that during her training, she was able to change? More importantly, did she become stronger as she always wished she did?

All this thinking was making Neji's head hurt like wild, as if it wasn't enough Hanabi had hung to him, protectively showing her sister that he somehow belonged to her now. While seeing this Hinata did not twitch and said almost emotionless, "If I were you, I would keep my little fingers away from what does not belong to you. For all I know, he is still _**my**_ protector." After hearing these words, Neji's body stiffened under the little girl's, now hesitant grasp. Hinata was considering him being her possession, as strange as it sounded, he couldn't keep his eyes away from her. This was the worst that could happen, seeing how another twelve year old Neji was being reborn.

Minutes seemed to flow like hours, and the more Neji waited the more he asked himself what could be happening inside those walls at the moment. Then, a sudden shudder came interfering with his more or less calm thinking. What if Hiashi was punishing her for having disappeared? He shook frantically his head and sat down next to the sliding paper door, legs crossed in a lotus pose. So many questions floating and he didn't even catch the most important one, why did he even care to know what would now happen to her?

Hard imposing footsteps were making their way to the sliding door and Neji got up and straightened his posture to look as if he just got there a few seconds ago. The door slid open and Hiashi came out, brows knitted together and a confident smirk plastered on his face.

"I am curious about what the outcome will be. This will be a match to remember." Hinata followed Hiashi out of the room with her usual graceful steps, not even blinking one time between her words.

"Of course, I meant what I said. You will see what you lost when giving my position to some midget whom I am ashamed about calling her my sister. It's on you to keep the end of the bargain." Neji furrowed his brows in confusion. _"What are they talking about? Is Hinata-sama maybe going to fight Hiashi-sama? And what bargain?"_

Without having any time to think of it any further Neji was called at by Hinata's father and he diverted his gaze back to him. "Neji, go get me Hanabi. We are going to assist to her sister's shameful defeat."

Hinata snorted at the clan's leader and countered his comment. "Bring it on!"

He didn't know how or when, but he found himself with many other main members of the Hyuga clan's compound's training grounds. Hiashi gave the order that all important members of the Hyuga clan, including the elders, must assist to the ultimate disgrace of his eldest daughter. After Neji had brought Hanabi back as ordered, he noticed the tiny little bump on his pocket. The necklace was still there, lying warmly instead of being around his little cousin's neck.

Hinata was standing on the training ground, around her was a wide field filled with grass. There were places where the herb was shaved short or even bare with dirty sticky mud on the ground, and then there were circles sketched too, probably created by the many attempts to master the famous "Kaiten", which was naturally under their league.

While waiting for the elder's decision on who will have to face Hinata, Neji made, for the first time, his way to her on the grounds. Hinata, however, didn't move one limb nor did she turn her head to him when he was approaching her. Neji was about to open his mouth but the ex-heiress beat him to it.

"I understand that you have many questions to ask and I will _**gladly**_ answer them after this match is over. You are dismissed." She said sternly and narrowing her eyes to the elders grouped a little further away. Neji couldn't help, but feel as if the last part of her first sentence was meant to be sarcastic and in some way it maybe was, seeing how she pronounced the "gladly" with annoyance.

Neji was about return back to his initial place when he heard the soft whispers of the woman behind him. "I'll make you feel the worst pain you've ever felt, just watch me!" He stopped instantly as these words came flying out of Hinata's mouth to crush themselves in his ears. Thinking maybe these words were directed at him, he turned around and noticed that her opponent, already chosen, was making his way into the grounds.

Still shocked by her choice of words, Neji slowly returned to his place to start watching the so called "humiliation of an ex-heiress live". This person wasn't Hinata anymore; it had to be someone different. As hard as he could possibly think, she was different in all kinds of aspects, her voice, her expressions, her personality and even her clothes. She had gotten rid of her thick jacket and had a simple net shirt with the plain blue-navy Bermuda pants; she had kept which reached to her knees. He just couldn't keep but thinking this was a different person and it seemed as if he was the only one who was affected by her sudden change. Everybody looked surprised at her sudden appearance at Hanabi's ceremony, whispers had made their way from mouth to mouth too, but no one ever wondered what had happened to her during her time out of the leaf village.

The only thing that kept annoying Neji was the fact that her sudden change was affecting him more than anything. Seeing how she was being more and more like the young thirteen year old Neji, was making him lose his usual serious composure. Truth is, she was making him look weak by being the ultimate Hyuga-famous non-emotional human being which the Hyuga clan leader craved to have.

The two opponents were facing each other and Hinata was piercing the man before her with her narrowed eyes, a smirk designed on her lips. Neji recognized the man as one belonging to the main members in the Hyuga clan and as uneasy feeling came emerging into his chest. If Hinata was able to change her whole personality like this was she also able to become stronger? And if yes, was she stronger than…him?

Hiashi gave the alert to start the match and Neji prepared himself for what was about to come when strangely just the man had gone into the Hyuga fighting stance. Hinata was still standing and not a limb had been moved. Seeing as, obviously he was going to win anyway the man decided to activate his Byagukan to finish the match with the greatest impact.

"Humph, are you really going to use that to fight me? Pathetic! I wouldn't waste my energy and chakra for that but seeing as you're going the hard way, I might as well use it too." Hinata said, amused by her opponents choice of weapons. She made the adequate finger signs and she in turn actived her Byakugan, but still not lowering herself to go into fighting stance.

Her opponent, rather annoyed by Hinata's mockery, began to run towards her in full speed. Neji rapidly looked at Hinata and noticed that she still didn't budge and probably never was going to do so. _"What is she doing? If you don't want to get killed then __**move**__!"_ Neji's thoughts screamed inside his head as if they wanted to reach the person they were addressed to, knowing that it could never happen, he just closed his eyes and hoped for the best.

As soon as he had closed his eyes, the gasps coming from the audience made him open them again, only to discover that Hinata had magically vanished. Her opponent was standing with his arm stretched and had, as Neji assumed, just been beating the air. Throughout this match, Neji had been observing with the corner of his eye, Hiashi standing three people away from him. At every reaction Hinata had done until now, Hiashi had put his stoic expression on and naturally his smirk hadn't faded away. He was certainly waiting for her to be crushed down and for the worst, be killed.

Only seconds after her vanishing, Hinata appeared behind her opponent, catching him off guard. Whispers were heard and by the movements of Hinata's lips, he figured these whispers belonged to her. He strained his ears to be able to listen what was actually being said and seeing as he was the younger one of the audience with the exception of Hanabi, he could still listen as well as he ever had.

"Always watch your back." Those words said, Hinata quickly raised her two arms and with one swift movement, put her hands on top of each other, chakra emanating from both of them and pushed them behind her opponent's neck. It didn't last long for him to be literally thrown away in the air and then fall about seventy feet away from the place he had been ejected from.

It was clear that her opponent was knocked out and wouldn't stand again, not after having flown that high that's for sure. Neji was stunned. She had vanished and appeared at such a great speed to knock a person so hard that he would spend his next few weeks in bed. Not only did she change her attitude completely, but she even managed to get stronger. Somehow he felt relieved, she was stronger, yes, but she couldn't possibly surpass him and for the first time since her return he felt unthreatened.

Hinata made her way to the clan leader known as her father with slow, yet powerful steps on the fresh afternoon grass. She stopped a decent distance and observed her father with confident eyes in silence. He, in return, did the same, but Neji noticed that the leader was straining him to not show his frustration at his failed attempt on his daughter. Thus, he managed to keep a wavering smirk on.

The silence broke when a middle-aged main member ran towards them and started panting heavily before reporting to his leader. "Hiashi-sama, Hirou is badly injured! His neck bones are completely broken and if we don't do something he won't be able to breathe right as the trachea is severely affected!" Neji directed his eyes to where the man was pointing and saw a group of main and branch members grouped together around what seemed to be the so called Hirou's body.

After a moment of thinking Hiashi narrowed his eyes into the direction of the injured man, "Herou, bring your brother to the hospital and make it quick. Maybe it was a bad idea to let a weak member fight against my useless daughter." Hinata clicked her tongue in disgust. "Tsst, letting me fight with the weakest member of the main branch? Humph, no wonder he got so easily crushed." She smirked at Herou, who obviously wanted to at least preserve his brother's pride.

"Do you not realize what you did? He could have died!" He shouted at her, but the Hyuga head hushed him and with a sign of his head into the injured man's direction made his orders clear. Herou addressed a last angry look at Hinata that he would soon regret as she threw a kunai with incredible speed towards him, missing him purposely by cutting a strand of his hair. After having had the worst fear of his life, Herou ran up to his brother in the distance more determinate as ever as if the grim reaper himself was running after him.

"Seeing as you spoke to me with that hateful tone you always used against me can just mean one thing: you aren't satisfied with what I've done. It is always not enough for you; _**everything**_ is not enough for you in this world. So, how about I fight _**you**_ to show how much I changed from your useless daughter into the human machine you always wanted?" Hinata said confidently enough to not breathe a single time between her sentences. Hinata was right about Hiashi, this Neji knew. Even though she showed everyone how easily she had crushed a middle levelled main member, it wasn't enough for Hiashi. Nothing was ever enough for him, and that point, Hinata knew it all to well.

Hiashi scowled at her, for a moment Neji thought, he was about to agree with her about her powers, but his snap of the fingers to call a servant and whispering some orders, deleted that possibility. After a few minutes two servants came holding a long wooden stick, two feet of thickness, with a straw stuffed training manikin attached to it. The two men put the manikin deep into the ground and without anyone telling what she had to do, Hinata slowly made her way towards the manikin, knowing exactly what she had to do. Suddenly she stopped midway to address a last comment over her shoulder to her father.

"Watch closely, I wouldn't want you to lose a single detail of what I am about to do with those weak eyes of yours. Aging only goes forwards and never backwards." Turning her head back to her next target she continued in her tracks, leaving a slowly fuming clan leader behind. In the way of how Hinata was speaking to her father she was surely declaring war and a big one at that.

Keeping herself at a good distance from the manikin, Hinata activated her Byakugan and went onto her fighting stance. She closed her eyes for a brief concentration and then reopened them, this time a circle was being drawn under her feet, known as the Eight Trigrams circle. Neji furrowed his brows, her thirty-two palms technique was nothing new, and seeing as Hiashi smirked at the scene made it clear that this attack would not change his vision of Hinata any better.

Before Neji could think of all the ways Hiashi would punish his daughter, in case she failed to show her powers, the circle widened until reaching the access to another more powerful technique. _"One Hundred twenty-eight Palms…No, she couldn't possibly..!"_ Neji's breathing speeded up as Hinata began to rush towards the manikin.

"Eight Trigrams One Hundred twenty-eight Palms!" With every chakra release from her hands the puppet began moving forwards and backwards at every move and soon lost all the straw it contained. When she reached the end of her technique the thick stick holding the manikin had broken off. Before the manikin could fall she threw it to the sky with one powerful punch and Neji knew that she hadn't finished yet and that another thing was yet to come.

Everybody was now holding their breaths and with one observing eye, Neji spotted Hiashi's brows slowly fading from an angry form to a confused one. Noticing how the doll was coming down, Hinata turned with a wonderful grace around herself.

"_Kaiten!"_ As soon as these words appeared on Neji's thoughts, they were spoken out by Hinata herself. "Kaiten!" The blue light appeared around her at the same time the manikin reached the exact distance. The technique faded away after a few seconds, revealing a completely cremated manikin on the ground. The doll was still steaming when Hinata took hold of it and threw it at Hiashi as proof.

Hiashi, however, clearly not pleased by the result, looked down at what didn't resemble a manikin at all, but instead resembled dark burned cloths. Closing his eyes in defeat, Hiashi slowly began walking away from the audience, Hanabi following behind. Keeping a secure distance from his eldest daughter, he slowly began announcing the words Neji never imagined to hear.

"In accordance to our pact, I declare that you are to be the next heiress in line." Even though Neji could sense the frustration in Hiashi's eyes, none of it was shown through his words and this made Neji believe that even though the Hyuga head was entirely displeased with the situation, he was sure already scheming something.

Hinata smirked and turned to leave as suddenly a little girl's voice rose above the elders' _fake _congratulations to the new heiress. "Father, how can you make this traitor the next heiress? What about my intentions on restoring Hyuga's reputation and strength?" Hanabi pulled on her father's robes while he just outfaced her in silence.

Upon hearing her younger sister's pleads, Hinata rotated around and looked at her with eyes of a snake capturing her prey. "Why would he want a little useless midget like you if he already has the powerful being he always wanted?"

Those words reached Hanabi's ears like bombs exploding in the midst of a battlefield. Hinata slowly started to walk away again as Hanabi rushed in front of her, widening her arms, blocking her older sister's way. "I will not let you do what you please! Give me my title back by fighting me. I will show you that I am more powerful than you!"

Even with her yells of challenging words, Hinata didn't stop one time. Instead, she just continued walking past the little girl. Not quite accepting being ignored, Hanabi ran up to Hinata and positioned herself in front of her again. Hinata stopped to let a sigh out, but continued walking this time in Hanabi's direction.

"Out of my way you pestering insect." Hinata growled, emphasising every word and with a push of her hand on Hanabi's shoulder, sent the girl flying to the side, freeing the way.

Neji rushed past Hinata with a knot on his stomach and kneeling beside his little cousin checked if she was unscathed. "Nii-san." Hanabi muttered inaudibly before fading into sleep. He held the girl on his arms and noticed a pink bruise starting to from on her knee, slowly beginning to bleed. Hinata certainly went easy on her sister, if she were in the mood to crush another person, she could of have easily broken a bone of her sister with a push. Hearing Hinata's steps stopping again, he dared to look back, wondering if she could have thought otherwise and this time hurt seriously her sister.

He saw her look at him, ignoring the fact of him holding Hanabi in his arms. "Neji, I want you to be in my room after whatever business you have with my lowly sister, understood?" His heart skipped a beat at the way she addressed him. Neji? This was certainly new, he was always addressed as her nii-san, but now she was truly calling him like anybody else and he felt something disappearing from inside him. He simply nodded as response and saw her walking to the main compartment of the compound.

Before he, himself began to walk away, the last whispers of the elders and the clan leader came flying to his ears and carefully he began walking away, but keeping an ear open at the same time.

"Do you have any idea what you did Hiashi-sama?" An elder raised his tone at the leader, but clearly kept the respect at the same time. "Don't worry, I have a plan. We shall use her when the time comes and when the time has finally reached the limit, I will play with my strings and make of her the Hyuga's clan new puppet. After all, I cannot deny how strong she has become. She will be of great importance in the future."

Neji shivered at his words, but it was great information. Somehow the feeling of being threatened was emerging into his chest again. Will he still be the Hyuga genius as he was always called?

* * *

_Okay, I know there isn't much romantic stuff here, but it will come, have some patience! Well that's it I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to tell me what you thought of the story!_


	2. Chapter 2: Change part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

_Heya everyone! Chapter 2 is finally up to you folks. (Was about time right?) **About the story:** I divided it into two parts seeing as it was waaaay to long, so I made that way to read it more clearly. Enjoy it to your heart content and review to tell me what you think about it!_

**Chapter 2**: Change isn't always for the better Part 1

Neji was as if petrified in front of Hinata's room. He had been ordered to come meet her and he had never felt greater pressure on his shoulders. She made him remember the exact portrait of his former "himself" and he wondered how such a delicate, sweet, timid lavender flower could turn into a bloody red rose infected by sharp thorns. He took a big breath, digging his bare feet strongly on the ground, then he gently knocked on the paper door. However, before he could state his name, a strong authoritarian voice he recognized as Hinata's, spoke up first.

"Come in." He did as he was told and entered the room after having slid the door back behind him. Hinata was sitting on the ground her back at him and the coffee table by the same occasion. The sliding windows were open so she could peer into the garden. Her lavender eyes were locked at the far horizon at the midday sun in the village, a steam emanating from something came out flying from her lap and he figured that it was probably a cup of tea. He stood there, not sure of what to do. It would surely be rude to sit down when not asked to or talking without being told to. Waiting to get this kind of permission had never crossed his mind before but with her change of attitude he wasn't sure if he would take the risk. Who knows what powerful powers she could hold hidden?

He balanced his weigh between his two legs, starting to feel uncomfortable as finally his cousin started to speak. "Why aren't you saying anything? I thought you wanted to talk with me?" It wasn't a question but most certainly a statement.

"I was waiting to have your permission to speak Hinata-sama." He said while bowing in a courtly manner even though he knew she wouldn't see it.

He was awaiting her approval for him to continue when she gave out a sceptical laughter. "Well, well, a long time ago you wouldn't even ask me for a cup of tea and now you need approval to speak? Hmph, ridiculous. As my protector I'll give you authorization to speak of your free will until I decide otherwise, understood?"

Neji simply gave a little sound of approval to her order, fastening his fists. She had stabbed his heart in remembering him about the past. He wanted her to understand that he wasn't like before, but on the contrary, that she was the one resembling the him from the past. She waved a hand to him that indicated for him to proceed to his questions.

There was so much he wanted to ask, she had, after all, been gone for nearly two years! First things first, he decided to take it slow and start with the more obvious question.

"Hinata-sama, what happened during your training? Why this change of attitude?" He heard a sound of porcelain touching porcelain then he noticed Hinata's back straighten. "You are going straight to the point as I see. Well, I trained all alone in the most fearful and dangerous woods around many villages and became what you see now. I won't waste your time in telling you the details, but that's about it." She explained her back loosening in her colourful kimono.

That was it? Not more? Neji was expecting her to tell him why exactly the change and if she had been seriously hurt at some point that she thought she would die. Not everyone changes his attitude from today to tomorrow so easily. On this point, he had to insist and that's exactly what he did.

"You're wrong. I actually am very interested on the details of your journey at least, if you are ready to talk about it." He was awfully aware that his sentence sounded like a challenge and to be truthful it actually was one. He wanted to see if she would respond like the young Neji would, if she would, then it was sure that she will take the challenge without flinching.

Before Neji realized it, Hinata had already put her tea cup on the table and was standing, her back still facing him. "Alright, I'll tell you, but I'll say this beforehand, I won't guarantee you that you will like what you'll hear. She paused only to hear his little sound of approval to continue.

"Like I said earlier, I travelled to the most dangerous woods, searching a way to become stronger. I trained during the day, not worrying that I might be attacked by bandits, nearby shinobi or dangerous animals. So dumb I was in thinking that I'd be secure wherever I could go. On my first day, when night fell, I trembled from my head to my toes, jumping and whimpering at every little sound. I don't blame myself; I was frail and weak after all. Moans of suffering, smell of death, even the sound of animals eating their own species were echoing in the woods. After this, I soon realized that I wasn't here to train anymore, but to survive. It became a manhunt. There are families of clans who are dying to know the secret of the Hyuga eye and my disappearing was the best they could imagine. Kidnapping me, then killing me to experiment my eyes was their plan, but as you can see I survived. Why you ask? I was weak and could be an easy target so how could I survive? At first I managed to always just knock my enemies down, but when I noticed that every time they recovered they would go after me, I simply had to kill them."

Neji froze, his hands set on each sides of his body were clenching into balls. Her voice had no emotion when she mentioned that she had killed her hunters. A long time ago, he wouldn't believe a word of this, but now…

Hinata walked further to the opened window until she reached the window frame, then resumed with her talk, her voice still not showing any kind of emotion. "It was hard for the me back there, but it was something I had to do if I wanted to be undisturbed in my search for new techniques. So then I got used to the hurt of kunai blades piercing my body, to the smell of my own blood as well as my enemies' on my clothes, flesh wounds wide open before my eyes and so forth. There is always a price to pay in every adventure, in my case I paid with my emotions. I got rid of every weak emotion just to replace them with stronger ones. The result from this is the me you have before your very eyes."

She turned around for the first time with the long ends of her kimono swirling behind her. The red dragon imprinted kimono seemed a bit too loose on her body as it didn't fit her forms well. It hung loosely on the edges of her shoulders, letting a clear view of her chest covered in bandages. Neji's cheeks began to redden when his eyes settled themselves on that exposed area which he never had seen on any other girls. He let his mind wander for a moment as he began to notice that not only her chest was covered in bandages, but her shoulders, the visible part of her stomach and the uncovered thighs coming out of the kimono. Hinata was never the type to put on bandages for no reason, so why was her body entirely covered by them? His mind rapidly got alerted as Hinata gently took a sip of her tea to put it back on the tea plate.

Neji was about to speak when he once again got cut off by the new heiress, "I'm not hurt if that is what your eyes were trying to tell me, but if those are wandering eyes, I advise you to do it discreetly." She didn't seem embarrassed or the least annoyed by the second possible reason she stated. For Neji it had only been a few seconds that he had laid his eyes on indecent places, but for her to notice it so quickly it must have been relatively obvious.

Hinata was about to settle herself on the floor again when Hiashi's words from before rung in his mind. _"We shall use her when the time comes and when the time has finally reached the limit, I will play with my strings and make of her the Hyuga's clan new puppet."_ He remembered having shivered at those words and his duty demanded him to tell Hinata the truth, but a part of him was still feeling threatened by her strength, making it hard for him to decide on what to do. And if it wasn't enough already, his mind was being tortured for no reason with questions followed by obvious answers. Finally, he decided to give priority to his duty. He was being indirectly challenged for his place as the Hyuga genius and the best he could do is waiting until the challenge would pronounce itself by his future opponent.

"Hinata-sama, tell me why do you suddenly insist on being the new heiress? You do know that the elders and your father have looked down upon you and openly despised you, even now I heard them talking together about using you like a puppet." He said calmly, searching for any reaction on her part.

Hinata merely stopped on her way to settle herself down and instead straightened herself back up to face him correctly. "Do you think I would be so clueless about their plans? I knew exactly the moment I stepped back into this cursed compound what they wanted, a fearful, mindless murderess machine. I offered them what they needed and they took it, now what I want to do is not only be the clan leader, but to execute a certain plan."

A chill ran through all of his 206 bones in his body. He had a slight idea of what it could be, seeing as her eyes had a refection of a certain something, he didn't want to mention or even think of the possibility of it actually being the true reason. During the entire conversation with Hinata, he tried to think back as the young hateful Neji to figure out her reactions. It was difficult as she was slightly different than he was, but something caught his eye. If he was the young Neji from before, he'd know exactly what he'd do after being treated like Hinata was: vengeance. Yes, he would have taken vengeance on everyone who let him suffer over all the years of his existence, but is that her reason too?

"Do you really want to know?" Hinata whispered as if what she was about to tell was a military secret that no one had the right to know. She approached him and stopped at a good distance to look up to him, their faces a breath away from each other. Even though he had the advantage in height, she absolutely had the power on her side.

Neji nodded, trying to keep his composure when he felt something soft brushing against his chest. He knew exactly what it was and it was hard for him to guard his composure. Hinata's lips formed a smile, more resembling to a smirk than an actual smile. "Take vengeance on certain people in the Hyuga clan, that's my plan, for now."

It was as he expected, therefore his eyes stayed unimpressed by her confession. He looked down upon her cold lavender eyes, "Aren't you afraid that I might tell the clan leader about your intentions? I do have an idea of who you are targeting."

Hinata laughed, amused by his question, "I left for two years and I have no idea if you are still sticking to your duty or not. Should you reveal my plan to the head then it wouldn't be that big of a problem as I do not have the intention to cancel it whatever you decide to do. My plan would just have to be executed way sooner than I expected no more than that."

She was still piercing her imposing eyes in his, shining with overconfidence. "If I'm here then that means I do want to protect you like I promised my father. It's up to you now if you need me as a protector or not." The promise with his father was craved in Neji's heart, and if his cousin doesn't want him anymore, he'll just have to protect her from the shadows. Even though he got to see a little taste of her powers on the training grounds, nothing let him to believe that leaving her alone with her fate knitted into a fine string wouldn't attract potential murderers, even more if she's the next heiress in line. No matter how strong she could be, he couldn't and he wouldn't let her be unguarded and his heart couldn't bear watching her leave for a mission without him.

Hinata closed her eyes for a brief moment as she continued leeched into his chest, tempting him to look further down her neck. He restrained himself to commit the inappropriate sin of a lustful man. Instead he held his breath and waited for what would come next.

He felt something moving away from his chest and opened his eyes. The body which had been so close to his a second ago was turning its back to him again, staying a few feet away. "You should know that when the time comes, I won't give you the order to accompany me nor will I ask your help on this. This is something I planned alone and I'll execute it alone." She declared, not waiting for him to contradict her.

Neji also turned his back to her, hands trembling for what he was about to say. "When we reach that final date, I'll be there to stop you." Why were these words so hard to say? He wouldn't want to resort this matter by physical force, he didn't want to repeat the same battle from a few years ago, even though he knew that the result wouldn't probably be the same.

"You are a man that keeps his word and I expect nothing more than having you in front of me, stopping me for something you think of being "foolish". Know that mere words won't work against me like at the Chuunin's exam. It will take a lot more than that to take me down." Her speech sounded like a challenge, and it maybe was one. She was thinking about the past again, everything that Neji wanted to forget came floating back in his mind. The images of him, actually trying to kill her. _"If I had ever seriously touched her that day, I wouldn't know what to do with myself today…"_

"Is this some sort of rematch for back then? If so, I will gladly accept it." "Fine, it will be a fight for honour, pride, justice and-", she paused for a moment before she began with the most important part of the sentence, "-for the Hyuga genius title."

Neji froze, his hands clenching into fists, she had seen right through him. Was it that obvious to everyone how he had feared about his title being stolen away from him? He still didn't quite understand this entire situation. All along this scene with each other's backs facing each other had been destabilizing for him and he only wanted to do the same thing over and over again. He had wanted to take her by the shoulders, shaking her back and forth, letting all this new personality of hers, splash away like a bad curse being lifted. Somehow, he had been missing someone for all this time and even though this person was right behind him, he was still missing her.

They stayed a long moment without moving from the place they were in. Silence filled the air when Neji finally heard Hinata's footsteps distancing themselves from him. He turned around and she was sitting back to her previous place by the low table, taking the tea cup, now probably cold, back to her hands. Her eyes locked on the tea, she spoke up with a neutral voice tone.

"Any interesting news while I was gone?" Neji's brows slightly arched at her question. Her choice of voice tone was expressionless as if she wasn't really interested in the answer, but only trying to make conversation.

"Nothing exceptional that could have an interest for you. After your departure everyone was restless, including Kiba and Shino, they were particularly worried." He paused to observe her reaction, but perceived nothing concluding on her face. He was about to open his mouth to continue, but got cut off by Hinata.

"Please Neji, if you are going to talk about how worried people were or how desperate some were to find me then you can stop. Nothing about that interests me; I think you yourself said it in the beginning didn't you? Maybe I didn't express myself clearly about what I wanted, so I would like to know how team 7 is doing." She tossed her words sharply at him, leaving him with no choice but to obey and answer.

"They have a new team member named Sai, whatever he paints on a paper comes alive, I have seen him practice and it's some unique skill he has. Sakura works here at the hospital, leaving her work whenever a mission comes up. Lastly is Naruto. He remains the village idiot and has become stronger when returning from his training with Jiraya-sama. I think that should be all apart from the stubborn obsession this team has to bring Sasuke back, they have made a good name for themselves." While he was reporting Hinata's eyes had never blinked a single time, nodding here and there. Suddenly Neji remembered a detail he had forgotten. Two years ago, Hinata had a weakness some considered impossible to cure. Whenever she spotted Naruto, her face would color itself into a faint shade of red, but when Naruto eventually started talking to her, it seemed as if her soul had left her body and that the blood in her body came meeting all in one into her face. Was she still in love with him now?

As if she had read his mind, she put down her tea cup on the table and looked up to him, speaking with a hint of annoyance in her words. "I heard that his wish finally came true about dating Sakura. A shame it is, I was actually considering to think of him as a good partner for life, but a part of me would never accept the fact of him being stronger than me. Now, that I see it that way, I, in fact, don't want a man stronger than me." Something had been lifted in Neji's heart and he felt lighter about hearing her rejecting her former love.

"If you were considering Naruto as a good partner for life, does that mean that you actually have one of these feelings which you said you threw away?" Neji said bluntly, not hiding his hope about seeing if there was something left in her heart.

Hinata gave out a humorless laugh, "Haha, if you are thinking that I could have left my undying feelings for Naruto back, you are mistaken. I don't care about such a childlike character anymore. Sometimes it makes me think what on earth could have made me attracted to him."

Right. What about Naruto did attract Hinata back then? During the Chuunin exams, Naruto had been the one who gave her the strength to continue even though she knew that if she continued, she could have easily died by her own body or even by Neji's hand. Nevertheless, it would be strangely funny to see Hinata faint at the slightest word Naruto might give her now that she embedded that attitude. No, she had no weakness. Her strong presence whenever she entered a room didn't allow her to have any kind of weakness. He should know best since she resembled his former self feature by feature.

Neji locked his eyes to her, leaving her no chance to escape or deflect his next question, "I have one last question. Is there at least a bit of humanity left in you? Anything that resembles a feeling?"

This question didn't make her laugh like the previous one had; instead she put her straight face back on, her eyes becoming serious. Strangely, her serious eyes didn't match her features. "I would be lying if I said I threw everything away. There is something that I wasn't able to get rid of, I tried everything, but it still stood. You could say that it's the little something that remained."

She turned her head back to the opened windows, her gaze was almost gentle, her eyes directed at nothing in particular. _"Something that remained…"_ Her words repeated themselves in his mind, letting them flow as words containing hope. Yes, there was still a feeling she couldn't get rid of and he was determined to find out which one it could possibly be.

"If you received all answers to your questions, I suppose you can dismiss." It was clearly an order and Neji willingly executed them even if his mind wasn't at rest. There were, indeed, more questions he wanted to ask, a mountain of them at that, but it was only wise to wait until the right opportunity was given.

"I have a meeting with my team this afternoon. We are going to train on the training grounds in the outskirts of the village. Feel free to come find me if you need me." He was feeling more like a servant than a protector, but in the way things were turning out, the best he could do was to obey her and slowly gain her trust. He didn't have a clue about what he was going to do or his intentions, neither did he know if this change of pace was leading her into a wrong way.

Hinata simply waved a hand without looking at him while Neji bowed and walked out the door. This was an eventful day and something in his gut told him that it wasn't finished just yet.

-x-x-x-

"I told you that it isn't him!" The dog loving boy exclaimed loudly and wide open to his teammate, his dog barking to approve of his sentence.

"I know what I smell. Your dog needs a bath and if you are so on to deny it then I should guess that you are only protecting him in saying that it is actually you who needs a bath?" The complicated words of his teammate made him confused as this one glared at him through his thick black glasses.

"No, it's neither me nor him and you know it very well Shino! Why do you always find something against Akamaru? He isn't the cause to blame all the time." The dog wasn't paying attention anymore, but instead was frantically sniffing the air.

"Whose fault is it why we can't sleep at an Inn or eat in a normal restaurant while on missions? Because of that smelly dog of yours we can't go anywhere, it's getting irritating and you know it too Kiba." Kiba frowned back at him, ignoring his dog's barks of attention.

"We've been together for so long and it's only now that you're telling me this? Do you have to empty your bag where you stored all of this recent angriness towards Akamaru and me? Let me tell you this, we were fine without you having to open your damn mouth!" Kiba nearly regretted what he said, but this has been going on for too long. Since that gentle and comforting presence disappeared from their views, the team had been gradually falling apart. It was the time where truth was set on the table like vulgar bread is set on breakfast and it wasn't necessarily a good thing. Actually, it wasn't a good thing at all.

"Instead on wasting your spit on false accusations why don't you try to shut your dog's snout for once?" Shino countered over Akamaru's barks and Kiba tried to listen to his dog's sayings. Unfortunately, he was way to upset to get anything about what the dog was barking. Kiba was about to reply back to Shino as Akamaru decided to run away.

"Akamaru, wait! Where are you going?" He shouted while starting to run after the canine, not thinking of giving a last glance at his abandoned teammate left behind. Probably, Akamaru was only trying to yank him out of that complicated argument he was in. This wasn't the first argument they had; many more had preceded this one, but not as strongly as this time. They never dared to show their uneasiness with each other in front of their sensei and everyday it was getting more and more difficult to keep a straight face. If nobody did something soon, a friendship will soon know rivalship.

Shino crossed his arms against his chest, sighing his frustration out. "Idiot." Suddenly his body shuddered, his chakra veins trembling at his insects' call of attention. _"Bzzt."_ "What are you trying to say? _"Bzzt bzzzt"_ His eyes widened and his heartbeat slightly quickened. "What?"

"Akamaruuu, isn't this far enough to flee away from that dog hater?" Despite Kiba's yells trough the streets, his dog didn't seem likely to stop. His eyes abruptly widened when he noticed his dog trying to leap towards someone's back. Unexpectedly, the person quickly bend down to his knees, avoiding the huge being that was about to collide with him. Akamaru, who wasn't able to stop running, uncontrollably continued his run until colliding into a wall.

"Ah, Akamaru, what did I say about jumping into people? Here you see why you have to stop." Kiba kneeled down by his dizzy dog's side, stroking his head where a bump was starting to form. Receiving a moan in return for his scolding, Kiba looked up to the person while starting to apologize. "Sorry, he's always like th….aaaat." He nearly choked at his last word as he got a clear look at the person in front of him.

Shino was just arriving when he looked at the situation before him. Kiba spotted him and directly gave him one of his huge grins which had become pretty rare these last two years. "Shino! Look, look who came back, Hina-chan!" He exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the person Shino had instantly recognized the moment he had seen her. Even with a single glance he would have recognized her anywhere and yet, something about her was different. Her clothing style was different yes, but there was something else he didn't quite get.

After hearing Kiba's call, Hinata swiftly turned around her, swirling her red cape around with her. This time, the feeling he had felt earlier deepened. There was definitely something wrong.

Shino closed the wide opened mouth of his teammate with one finger. "Kiba it isn't appropriate to show the insides of your moth to a girl, even more if it's Hina-chan." Kiba glared back at him not caring one minute about his words. "Well, anyway we have Hina-chan back and that is everything that counts, but you sure had a hard time during your training!" He smiled widely at Hinata who had openly twitched at her name.

"Would you stop calling me with that stupid suffix? I'm not a child anymore; keep it far away from my ears." The two boys sitting across from her silently looked at each other with worried looks. It had been like that since they arrived at the restaurant. They asked her to tell them what had happened during her training and what they heard were some worrisome details. Sometimes they had even asked themselves if she could be lying but her changes sure did contradict their thoughts, so they were led with no option but to believe in her words.

"If that is all, I have some important business to attend to." Hinata said while beginning to stand up and walk away. Kiba abruptly rose up from his chair. "Hina-ch-, I mean, Hina, now that you're back, we could go on missions together someday, you know just like the old times. We can't let team 7 steal the spotlight right?" He excitedly punched the air, Shino nodding in agreement.

"I am sorry to inform you that I won't be able to go on missions with you as team 8 anymore. I'm quitting, but if one day you have any information you would qualify as important you can come to me." She harshly replied back with no emotion, walking away without as much giving a glance back.

They were as stunned as a cold stone left out in an empty garden when Kiba slowly whispered, "Say, Shino. Is she saying that we became something like business partners?" His voice sounded sad and even Shino who was always calm and composed, was slightly trembling. He didn't know what answer he should give to his teammate as this one was about to run after Hinata. Shino speedily grabbed hold of his arm, preventing him from running away.

"Stop, I don't think that's a good idea." Shino tried to calm the dog boy, but in vain, Kiba who had sounded so sad, regarded him with very angered eyes.

"Stopping what Shino? Are you letting her go just like that? We went through everything together, surpassing every pain, weakness and life dangerous situations together! Was this all a lie? What was this affection we build up after all these years? Didn't you like her too Shino?" His rage was growing as he spoke up these words, trying to break free from Shino's grasp.

"Of course did I like her too!" Shino's voice rose up like it never had before and made Kiba flinch in surprise. "But do you think it's really a good idea to go after her and force her to come back? I had some doubts that something was wrong with her and this proves me right. She became a thirteen year old Neji, cold, fierce and filled with feelings of bitterness. Not forgetting her resemblance with the fugitive, Sasuke Uchiha, would you like for her to quit the village for good this time? Try to think of her from today on as a former Neji, words alone won't be enough to bring her back, neither do actions. Forcing her to come back will do no good. I know Hinata very well even though she changed, I can tell that there is still something left in her. We'll just have to wait and support her as much as we can and see what happens."

Shino was never one of those types who speak a lot, on the contrary, he would only open his mouth to tell only the necessary minimum, and here Kiba thought that this was the only time where he ever talked that much.

Feeling Kiba's arm relaxing under his grip, Shino slowly let go. Kiba carelessly sat back down, burying his face into both of his hands. "Say Shino, what the hell happened to us?" He whispered, his voice containing utmost sadness. It seemed that he was on the verge of tears, as his body visibly trembled.

After all Shino couldn't blame him, even he, himself was still shaking. Leaning his head back, eyes set on the ceiling, he answered back, "I…don't know. I guess we are just two idiots in love."

-x-x-x-

"I don't believe any of this!" The woman with crimson eyes shouted, not accepting what she had just heard.

"I am only telling you the truth of what recently happened at the Hyuga compound. I know reliable people who are surely not employed to lie about what they hear." Kakashi said without looking away from his new volume of "Icha Icha Paradise".

Kurenai threw him a glare, "I know my student and I cannot believe that we are speaking about the same person, such an innocent and kind girl isn't able to do these things you accuse her of."

He sighed; it will be hard to make her believe that he was actually telling the truth. "That is exactly the problem. Hinata isn't the same girl you used to know, she completely changed and that is the reason why I'm telling you all this. I don't want you to be too shocked the moment you'll see the change." "Are you kidding me?" Kakashi's uncovered eye widened at Kurenai's yell and got his book snatched away due to his momentarily absence of attention.

"Kurenai-" He was about to calm her down as she cut him off, "Kakashi, you know about that rule which says that it is inappropriate to have a preference towards one of your three students, right? Well, I think I broke that rule the first time I watched Hinata training herself to exhaustion late at night. During my meetings with her father, it mostly seemed that we were talking about a stranger instead of his own daughter! In these times, the only thing that went through my mind was to tear her away from that obnoxious clan and make her my daughter. So here you know why I broke that rule, but how could I not have taken a liking to such a strong willed girl? What you are telling me now is giving me a heartbreak."

Kakashi lowered his gaze down, leaning against the wall, arms crossing each other. He knows that feeling all to well and he was sure that not only Kurenai and himself were the only teachers that had their favorites. It is expected from the teachers to like all their students equally but here again, every teacher has at least one student who he prefers a little more. Of course, there was Gai with Lee, the green jumpsuit spring of youth duo and Asuma with Shikamaru, the shôgi intellectuals. As for him, the one who he truly had a connection with was…

"I understand it, because me too, I've felt that way about someone who this village has long forgotten." He calmly said, still with his eyes set on the ground.

"Kakashi…you-" Her words trailed off in the air, seeming to understand who this student might be.

"I have only one last thing to say to you. Whatever you decide to do about Hinata's case, don't ever try to force her in doing something against her will. It won't work that way. I know best since I had tried it before." Kurenai smiled back at him, a sad yet reassuring smile. "Thank you, but I already know what I want to do, even if it has to be by force." Following this, she turned her back and began walking out of the hallway, throwing Kakashi's book back over her shoulder to him. He caught it just in time before it hit his face by a few inches.

"Kurenai…I hope you know what you're doing."


	3. Chapter 2: Change part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 2** : Change isn't always for the better Part 2

-x-x-x-

Kurenai was walking out onto the street, shielding her eyes with a hand from the sun when something reddish caught her eye. _"It's her!"_ She didn't need a confirmation, the words came out from inside her heart before she even knew what was happening and she caught herself calling her name.

"Hinata!" Hinata stopped; good she had heard and recognized her voice. As she spun around, Kakashi's words instantly rung in her head. Her eyes…were cold as ice.

"Ah, long time no see, Kurenai." There was it, no "sensei" after her name, no embrace nor smile. There was only a confident smirk plastered on her face, one that absolutely didn't match her. Still she refused to surrender to Kakashi's words.

She took a deep breath, "Hinata, follow me. We have some important matters to discuss." Kurenai was starting to leave when she noticed that she didn't hear any steps behind her and turned her head back, a questioning frown on her face.

"I don't understand why we can't talk here. You have to know that I'm not one to follow orders even more if it's from an ex-teacher." Hinata's voice was filled with authority almost like her father had talked to her before, but her reply did give her a little painful sting in her heart. She didn't consider her as her teacher anymore, what more was on the list?

"Please, if you will." Kurenai's pleading did convince her former student to follow her to the outskirts of town. Why that far away? Well, because she had a plan. In situations like these, major actions were needed.

They reached a part of the woods which was commonly used for training sessions. "Now would you tell me what business you have with me? I have more important things to do now that I became the next heiress in line." Kurenai tried as hard as she could to ignore her mockery tone and silently closed her eyes.

"What have you become? I am happy about you being the next heiress and having gained more strength but did you have to go all the way and change your attitude too?" "So you did hear about my achievements? No wonder that word really does escape from mouth to mouth rather quickly in this village. Hinata shrugged, not caring if really everyone knew about her recent activities.

"Kakashi told me from his reliable sources what has happened at the compound, what exactly is your plan? Or are you going to avoid this question too by not answering it?" Her sentence seemed to push her to spit all answers she could get, and she hoped that it wouldn't come to drastic measures.

"Hmpf, like I would do such a thing as cowardly stay silent about my own plans when it only makes things much more entertaining? The answer is simple and I will say no more than that, revenge, that is my plan." Kurenai gaped uncontrollably at her statement. Kakashi was right about everything, but he hadn't told her something about revenge. It was hard to admit that Hinata visibly did change, for the worst if we could say so, and it was even harder to gaze into her fierce eyes.

"Revenge? Hinata, I thought you were better than that. Getting revenge won't help closing up those wounds you held for years. Let's pretend you do get revenge what would it solve or what would you gain?" Her pleading voice was making itself stronger with each word that came out; she was beginning to become desperate. Kakashi had also been right about her shock. As she was trying to understand this whole situation, her mind got confused and her heart was slowly falling apart, making her thinking hard to control.

"What would you even know about what I went through? This training is the best thing I ever did, getting stronger, colder, throwing everything away that is not necessary to feel alive. Taking revenge on those people who looked down upon me, treated me like I was only a piece of rag which nobody wants to deal with is the reason why my motivation to destroy that clan rises every day with more and more intensity. So don't play my story with your script and imagination, I write my own story." She didn't even have to yell for someone to be intimidated by her words, in fact, she had kept her voice at a normal level yet it had felt a lot more threatening.

_"What happened to you? I don't recognize the girl who had been ready to throw away her life against her cousin just to show her confidence and strong will even though she knew he could have killed her. I guess I have no choice, I'll have to choose that."_ She tried to calm her mind in closing her eyes for a brief moment; she couldn't lose sanity because of a former student who was obviously choosing the dark path. She had to bring her back no matter what the cost, even if she had to sell her own soul to the devil himself.

"Hinata, let's do a match, but with stakes." Hinata who had been eying her curiously, lit up a fire of competition in her eyes, she was already foreseeing her win.

"Oh interesting, I suppose that if you win you want to bring my old self back isn't it? Here I have a question for you, what do **I** get if I win?" "I let you do as you please and will never mention your past again." Kurenai held her hand on top of her heart to strengthen her statement as she replied back. Hinata had seen right through her with those piercing eyes, what more were they hiding?

"Goes for me, I'm ready whenever you are." Hinata said, crossing her arms to her chest, not bothering to lower herself into her fighting stance.

"Here we go!" Kurenai shouted what seemed to be a battle cry, already forming a plan in her mind. She rapidly stuck two kunai on the ground and let four in each hand pierce into two trees opposite of each other from where she stood in the middle. Hinata had been following her every movement with her lavender orbs, seeming disappointed when nothing happened, but her expression immediately changed when she saw Kurenai dashing towards her, a dangerous kunai in hand.

Her kunai collided with another one held out by Hinata, a sound of steel against steel resonating hurtfully in her ears. Kurenai continuously tried to hit her opponent with her kunai, landing a kick or a punch at every occasion, but every time her attacks were blocked. Backing away from her attacks, she let herself rest, already panting from her efforts.

"Tired already? Hmpf, is this everything that you can do?" Kurenai rose up her crimson eyes to Hinata, noticing that she was still standing with her back as straight as an arrow, her breathing also calm and relaxed as if she hadn't done a thing at all. All her attacks were blocked so quickly and she did nothing more than to defend Kurenai's blows, it made her wonder if Hinata was really fighting seriously or just playing around with her.

"Heh, I guess I lack a bit of training, but it will be enough to let the teacher crush the student." Getting only a snort as response, Kurenai began her combos of kicking and punching altogether again, their kunai emitting thumping noises at each contact. Suddenly she noticed an opening and punched her former student in her stomach, pushing her two feet backwards on the grounds. Hinata landed on her feet, holding the place she had been punched, but no wince nor expression of it having hurt her was shown on her face, instead of this, Kurenai only saw a smirk being formed on her lips.

"Not bad. I think I should really consider fighting seriously at this point." These words said, Hinata lowered herself into a fighting stance after having activated her byakugan. Kurenai widened her eyes, she had been right about her opponent having been playing with her, but it's not what surprised her the most. Her usual fighting stance had…changed. Her back and knees were slightly bent and her left arm was stretched out while her right arm crossed her left one her hand resting a few inches beside her shoulder.

"You must feel lucky to be the first person from Konoha to see my new fighting stance and techniques. This means that I'm getting serious." Her voice went deeper, her eyes narrowing, showing that she was already done playing.

Seeing as Hinata wasn't budging, Kurenai decided to take the first step again, dashing towards her former student in full speed. Their kunai collided again with a resonating sound, fiercely attacking and blocking from both sides. Feeling that the fight was not improving, Kurenai went for an aerial kick when suddenly she felt a cold wind brushing past her right foot which was about to strike. Absolutely ignoring what was going on, she preferred to retreat and leapt away from Hinata.

Landing on her feet, Kurenai looked up to her opponent who wore a neutral face expression. "What…was that?" She was out of breath again, and she noticed that Hinata was also slightly panting.

The smirk from earlier on was brought up again, "Heh, I missed by just a few inches. See that?" She rose up her hand, a bright blue light emanating from it. "I concentrated my chakra on my hands and it has quite a surprising effect if I ever touch a precise part of your body and what effects will ensue, you will have to find that out on your own."

Kurenai didn't have the chance to protest as Hinata was already running towards her, her red cape beautifully floating behind her. Her heart suddenly quickened, leaping out of her chest at every blow Hinata gave. She feared for the worst, she could under no circumstances get touched by those hands. Kurenai tried an aerial kick again and dodged just in time when she saw the blue light approaching. Unfortunately during her dodge, she hadn't realized that she had unintentionally left her other leg uncovered, encouraging her opponent to strike it. It happened so fast before her eyes that the only thing she felt was a gust of wind followed by a sharp pain infecting all of her touched leg.

"Got you", were the only words Hinata gave her before she fell to the ground with a loud thud, now holding her leg painfully between her hands. "Care…hah…to explain?" She managed to growl through gritted teeth.

"It is very simple. While striking with my chakra, it releases wind gusts and if by any chance you are hit, the area that got struck gets infected." Kurenai tried to lift herself up, but failed miserably, the pain in her leg dominating her and nailing her on the ground.

"And? What is going to happen to me?" She asked, not knowing if she really did want to hear her answer.

Hinata crossed her arms again, talking with an expressionless face, "In your case, I hit a particular spot on your leg, emptying the chakra which passed by that very same area and instantly making it unable to hold any more chakra. As you may already know, chakra flows in your body like the blood circulatory system, providing every part of your body with it. Now that I blocked it no chakra will pass through your entire leg for a long time while the rest of your body has to content itself with the remaining chakra. Unfortunately even I don't know how long the blocking will last."

Still panting from the recent confrontation, Kurenai straightened herself to a standing position, clenching her teeth to resist the pain on her leg. "Hinata…we can always stop it. Please, let's stop this useless fight and act like we used to before you went training. I don't like this new you." She decided on a last attempt to settle things calmly. After all, no one knew where this fight could lead to.

"What you see before you is the result of a long harsh training where I gave all my soul out to be as strong as I am now and do you expect of me to care if somebody likes me or not? I'll tell you a secret; I don't give a damn about what other people think, not anymore." She clearly seemed annoyed and Kurenai sighed. It was over, she could never get the old Hinata back, but her stubborn heart didn't seem wanting to give up.

"Then I'll just have to bring you back by force, no matter what other people might say!" After having shouted her sentence at her former student, she readied herself to run, but was cut short by a striking pain again. "_Damn it, am I that useless now?"_

Her head rose up to Hinata who was mockingly laughing at her. "Oh? Did I forget to tell you that my technique could easily break a bone or two?"

She already had the feeling that her leg could be broken but now that she got it confirmed, nothing could hold her back anymore, even if it'll hurt as hell or that after this fight she may never walk again, nothing will stop her to win this fight. Gritting her teeth and clenching her kunai as strongly as she could in both of her hands, she ran with all her might towards Hinata. Reaching a certain distance, she leapt in the air to position herself behind her opponent. Catching her by surprise, Kurenai sent her flying with a kick from her uninjured leg a few feet away.

Hinata landed on her feet as if she had just leapt by herself, and Kurenai formed a smile of victory on her lips. Her former student was exactly there where she wanted her to be. Pulling the two kunai she had planted on the ground before the fight with two almost invisible strings, the four kunai on each of the trees also got pulled by the two one's, yanking the two trees by their roots and falling exactly on the spot where Hinata had positioned herself.

Kurenai watched as the trees fell on her opponent with a loud crumbling sound. "I guess the teacher is still stronger than the student." She whispered under her breath, wiping a few pearls of sweat from her forehead. With this attack it was sure that Hinata was unable to fight anymore, anyone would after having received two huge pine trees on top of them. Her thoughts were soon disturbed as she heard a breaking noise coming from the two collapsed trees. A blue light flashed through the trees, letting an unscathed Hinata appear out of the blue.

"Impossible how-." Her sentence was cut off as Hinata leapt out of the crash spot and answered her almost automatically. "Using the chakra from the same technique can cut through any type of objects besides the human body, but also requires a certain amount of concentration and time which is why it cannot be used in a fight." She formed a blue chakra flame on her hand while she spoke. "Tch, I'll just have to let you run out of chakra then!" A skeptical look appeared on Hinata's face after having heard Kurenai's exclamation.

No scratches, a bit panting, her clothes perfectly neat, it didn't seem like she had just been in a fight but Kurenai on the other hand, received a few scratches from a kunai blade, her clothes were dirty tattered at some places and she was monstrously panting. She had to admit that Hinata was stronger, stronger than some people that she had in mind, maybe even stronger than her cousin. Having used every option that could be called harmless, she had to resort to her last option left, even if this one could severely injure her former student.

Kurenai rapidly threw a kunai to the ground next to Hinata to deflect her attention. As expected, upon seeing the kunai being thrown at her, Hinata had pulled her own kunai out, concentrating herself on the direction of the kunai. Fortunately, she didn't see that right after having thrown the first kunai; Kurenai had thrown two more, aiming for the two corners at the end of her cape. Having her temporarily immobilized to the ground, she proceeded her plan.

She made a few hand signs for her technique, closing her eyes and concentrating on her next move. The wind blew on the battle ground, its cry seeming to ask her to stop going any further. "Genjutsu, Demonic Illusion!" Her voice resonated against the pleading wind and as she reopened her eyes, Hinata, was gone.

She widened her eyes, she was sure that she had had a great timing and that Hinata's momentarily shock could have given her enough time for her rapid jutsu to be executed. It had been only a matter of a few seconds, so how could she have disappeared so fast?

A rustling from the nearby trees made her heart skip a beat; Hinata was surely planning to attack her by surprise seen as Kurenai's injury could slow her down if she tried to evade any attack. "You do know that attacking someone from behind is called cowardly don't you?" She shouted, not stopping to look from left to right and even in the skies for an eventual aerial attack, carefully turning on herself to not hurt her leg even more.

Suddenly Hinata appeared in front of her, her eyes lit with a flame of victory. Affected by the sudden shock, Kurenai was unable to think clearly and take action. "Sometimes it even works under the opponent's nose." Upon saying these last words, Hinata put her two hands on top of each other, pressing them together on Kurenai's stomach.

Kurenai could only watch, her hands refusing to reach towards her kunai on her pocket, her heart, breaking into pieces. "Chakra Drain!" She felt her body being emptied of chakra, an exploding pain filling her insides; nevertheless she was sure that it wasn't meant to kill her, so she addressed her last words before her slumber to her dearest student in front of her.

"Hina…ta, I…'m so…rry." Yes, she was sorry for being unable to bring the old Hinata back and sorry for herself, in having refused to hear the advices which proved to be true. Still, Hinata's sudden widened eyes and surprised look after she had said those words, made her feel content. There was still something left, there on her heart. Feeling blood spreading on her mouth, her surroundings fading to black and her legs giving in, she fell backwards on the ground, readying herself for her long slumber to come.

"Why are you saying sorry for?" Hinata mumbled to herself, looking at her former teacher laid before her on the ground, no feeling of regret overwhelming her because she, of course, had thrown it away a long time ago. Her mouth abruptly started to taste the familiar taste of blood and her neck strangling her with pain. She fell to the floor on her knees, coughing what it seemed to be to no end.

Raising her head up after having calmed down with her coughs, she looked down to her hands which were filled with stains of blood. _"Damn I thought I had ended already."_ Her illness dominating her, she passed out on the floor.

-x-x-x-

"Tsk, tsk, what a mess." The white haired man closed his book with a bitter feeling, he had been at the highest peak of the story and as interesting as it seemed the situation didn't permit him to continue with the reading.

"Kakashi, I've brought him as you asked." Kakashi looked at the dog a few feet behind him, who gave a look back at the person who he brought with. "Ah, thank you Pakkun." He thanked his ninken who was disappearing in a white cloud while scratching his head, asking himself what he could possibly say to the person scowling curiously at him.

"Kakashi-sensei why did you call for me?" Oh great, his voice already contained a hint of worry, if in addition he had to explain what had happened, he would not only have the Hyuga genius after him but the whole clan too.

"Neji, I called you because I couldn't possibly carry two ladies by myself." He tried to sound reassuring, but the deep confused look on the white eyed boy told him that it didn't work. Instead, he tried to take it the simple way around and pointed with a nod from his head the direction where the two women had fought a few moments ago.

Upon seeing Hinata, Neji rapidly rushed by her side, holding her body closely in his arms. "Hinata-sama, please wake up! Hinata-sama!" As much as he wanted her to wake up by calling her name, Hinata didn't even twitch nor did her eyes even flutter open to show any sign of consciousness. Neji looked up to him, angry eyes being shot right into his, "Why didn't you stop her?"

This question had passed through his mind a million times in just a few seconds, but he never found an answer to it. He looked over to Kurenai who in comparison to her student was much more injured then Hinata. Neji followed his gaze and immediately widened his eyes, never letting go of his protegee. "Kurenai-sensei? Did they fight each other and then collapsed together in exhaustion?"

Kakashi lifted Kurenai from the ground and held her up on his arms, looking closely at the thin line of blood on the corner of her mouth. "No, I'm sure Hinata did win, I was watching after all even though I arrived too late to save them." He had arrived right at the moment where Kurenai was activating her jutsu, but everything had gone so fast that if someone asked him what had possibly happened, he wouldn't be able to answer. _"She disappeared so fast that even my sharigan wasn't able to premeditate it and then she reappeared out of the blue and cast her jutsu with the speed of light; I have to admit that her level has highly improved. She could eventually become the next Hyuga genius."_

The young Hyuga drew him out of his thoughts, speaking with an unusual sad voice, "If she won, then why is she out of it?" "I think it must maybe come from an internal illness seeing that she was coughing really badly a while ago. Anyway, let's go to the hospital, we might know what damage both of these damsels have become." Neji nodded and they made their way to Konoha's hospital.

-x-x-x-

"Kakashi-sensei was right; Kurenai-sensei did have more severe injuries than Hinata-san, not talking about the fact that sensei's abilities are unable to make such damage to Hinata-san's body." Sakura wore a white garment and a notepad between her hands, her face showing sadness as well as relief from having seen that Hinata did come back alive. Neji's heart hadn't stop beating a mile per minute since he saw her lying on the ground and he had thought that maybe she hadn't been as strong as she pretended to be, but Sakura's judgment told him otherwise.

"So, what does Hinata-sama have?" Sakura bit her lip, trying to calm herself down before she reported on Hinata's health. "Well, she has an internal bleeding, a severe one at that. I think it got worse due of the fight and the physical overexertion she let her body undergo. It is quite serious even though it doesn't shows at first it doesn't mean that we don't have to worry about it."

"And Kurenai?" Kakashi added, and Neji scolded himself for only having thought of Hinata and he was still only thinking about her.

Sakura now looked even grimmer; it showed that she wasn't still used to see pain and suffering on her patients' faces, even more if it concerned her friends and acquaintances. "Well it's even more surprising and critical. She is currently in coma and I'd say for a good time, she has her leg completely broken from her knee to her ankle, and the most baffling part is that she has been emptied of all her chakra, and it is impossible to get her to regenerate it as her chakra circulatory system has also been completely blocked. Lastly, her stomach received much damage too seeing as it has difficulty in functioning the way it should. If this is all Hinata-san's doing then I guess that it saddens me how she used her technique against her own sensei." The girl shivered while Neji wore a wide opened mouth and looking from the corner of his eye, he had seen that Team 7's teacher had visibly widened his eyes at certain parts too.

"You can go visit one of them if you'd like, but I advise you to do it quick, visiting hours are finished in about-", she checked her watch for the time, "-fifteen minutes." She looked up to them, expecting someone to answer her. Neji threw a worried glance at the door of Hinata's room and then he looked at the opposite door where Kurenai rested. It was true that his heart was telling him to go see Hinata without hesitation, but he couldn't help to think that Kurenai also deserved a visit considering the condition she was in.

Kakashi must have noticed his glances as he gently put a hand on his shoulder. "Neji, I understand that you are worried about the future heiress of your clan, you can go and see her for yourself, and I'll take care of Kurenai." Sakura nodded at both of their choices to visit and directed her eyes at Neji.

"I'll go with you; I still didn't have the chance to talk to her." She seemed so happy that it pained Neji to tell her that Hinata wasn't "Hinata" anymore and she could be highly deceived by her new form, but he was fed up in being the bearer of bad news so the best was to let her go see it with her own eyes.

Sakura slid the door with an energetic push, her smile never leaving her face. Hinata was wide awake on her bed, cold eyes looking at their direction. Neji held his breath, a part of him not wanting to know what could possibly happen. "Hinata-san, I see you are awake. How are you doing?" Sakura gently began her conversation and Hinata's expression went bitter.

"I'm very well, thank you. Neji, we can go now, I have nothing to do here anymore." Hinata began to climb out of her bed as Sakura recovered from her momentary shock. "Ah, but you are still ill and if you involve yourself in another battle or overexert your body again, it could really worsen your internal bleeding-" She stopped as she got shot by Hinata's glare of silence.

"I don't care about that nonsense! I feel fine and as long as I'm feeling fine then I have nothing to do in a hospital room." Neji looked at both women in turn and rapidly decided to take control of the situation.

"Haruno, could we talk for a minute?" She looked at him with shocked if not to say, frightened eyes. She had flinched at every poisonous word Hinata had spilt at her. It was only natural for her to react that way, everyone would, and he was the one who was the most affected.

"Y-yes." She gave a last look at Hinata who gave out a frustrating sigh and returned to lie on the bed.

Neji led her outside of the room, carefully closing the door behind him. Sakura was looking back down at her notepad without really seeing it, her thoughts wandering somewhere far away.

"I understand that it must have been a shock for you, it is for anyone, but the only thing we can do now is not trying to force her to change. Kurenai-sensei must have been trying to bring her back by force and you know where it led her to. Time will tell if she will stay like that forever or if really someone can bring her back." _"Me."_ His thoughts came as abruptly as they left. Not paying attention to what his thoughts were trying to tell him, he listened to what Sakura was replying.

"I…understand." It was clear that she didn't understand and was still left confused, but he saw in her eyes a hint of concern.

"How long does she have to stay here?" She lifted her chin up at his question. "Well, about um…two weeks I'd say. After that she should surely having recovered from her bleeding-." It seemed as if she wanted to say something more, but remained silent.

Neji took a deep breath, "I will try to convince her to stay here even though it will not be an easy task." "Please try; if she ever gets into another fight like that I'm afraid she-." Her voice died down as she tried to control her shaky voice, but got a grip of herself almost instantly, showing a thin smile before excusing herself to attend to her other business.

He entered the room again, relieved in seeing that Hinata hadn't left her bed and jumped out of the window in an attempt to flee. During this entire situation he came to understand two things. One of them was that he had feared for his genius title and his strength that one day he could lose it all and the other was that Hinata's change of attitude had made him feel weak and so his personality took a hit. Conclusion was, her change couldn't be reason for him to change too, no, he had to become the same Neji he decided to be that he was before she had left for her training.

"Hinata-sama, I can't have you leave the hospital." He said sternly, just like the time where he asked her where she was going that famous night. She looked at him skeptically as if he had been joking, but he kept a straight face showing her that he was serious.

"Hmph, who are you to order me around? No one commands me, which is exactly one of the reasons I became what I am." Hinata was beginning to raise herself up out of the bed when Neji's eyes locked themselves on an object lying on top of a wooden chest of drawers right opposite of her bed. Before he could even think about it, he took hold of the vase and threw it at Hinata. As expected, she immediately noticed it with the corner of her eye and raised her arm, shattering the vase into thousand pieces. Her arms left no cuts from where she had protected herself, but her face was a mixture of anger and betrayal.

"Neji!" It was the first time he heard her shouting and it surprised him for an instant. "Hinata-sama, it is only for your health that I'm keeping you here. I am not going to baby-sit you neither do you want me to do it I suppose. I was informed that you have an internal bleeding and that if you have another fight like this one, who knows what more damage could come upon you, one that you will surely never recover from." He was almost scolding her, but it was the only way he found for her to get the message.

She looked up annoyingly to the ceiling and strangely he was pleased that she even gave a thought about it. After a few minutes of silence, Hinata closed her eyes, hesitantly asking him her question. "How long would I be staying here?" "Two weeks." "Then I think I will stay here." With a shrug of her shoulders she let herself fall on the bed, struggling to get a good position.

Neji arched a brow at her choice of attitude and how easily she had accepted to stay in hospital. Maybe he could be the one to make a difference. He abruptly bowed down, his head almost reaching the bottom of his waist. "My apologies Hinata-sama. I threw you an object that could have hurt you." He apologized, not regretting one bit on having thrown that vase at her. He had done it for the sole reason of showing her that he wouldn't accept no for an answer.

"Idiot! Don't ever apologize for something you thought was the right thing to do!" Neji blinked at her and straightened his back up. The visiting hours were coming to an end an he decided that it was time he returned to the compound, but there was still one thing he had to be sure of.

"Hinata-sama, if you ever try to escape through the window or run away under the cover of the night, I'll be hunting you down and bring you back by myself. If I see that you are escaping repeatedly, I will not hesitate to have our fight for the title sooner than expected." Hinata shot him a quick glare.

"I said that I'll be staying here, so I guess I gave my word. Rest assured, I am not going to do any escapes of some sort." Getting a positive response, Neji quickly bowed in respect and turned to leave, but stopped when he heard his name. "Neji?" He turned his head, waiting for her to continue.

"Hm, nothing. You can go." Neji excused himself again and slid the door open. Having closed the door behind him; he shortly leaned against it, a smile of satisfaction designed on his lips. He had become the man he had been before her journey and he even succeeded into convincing her to stay in bed. It really had been a tiring day but seeing as Hinata had probably called him back to thank him, this day wasn't ending in such a bad way at all.

"He's cunning, this I have to admit." She rose up her smirk as she slowly whispered these words from her lips, ready to rest in what seemed to be a prison without bars.

* * *

_Hope you liked it! Next chapter coming soon!_


	4. Chapter 3: Confessions

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but the two other invented names you will find down below in the story, I'll let you find out ;)

_Chapter 3 is out, yay. Check it out, it's quite a long chapter actually but anyway, have fun reading! Seriously, it's time for bed but I still wanted to finish it even though I have a test I studied nothing for, gotta work on it I guess huh? Enjoy it and let me know what you thought of it!_

_**Chapter ****3****:**Confessions_

His footsteps mixed with the nurse's echoed in the hallway. Tomorrow, Hinata would be discharged, free to proceed her planning for whatever the Hyuga clan would have to confront. It was surprising how everyday he had entered the hospital with a knot in his stomach, wondering if Hinata had escaped like he expected she would. Surprisingly enough, the nurse's had said that apart the fact that she was awfully rude, she had made no attempts on escaping. She had definitely kept her word. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, nurses rushing back and forth ignoring whatever flowed in his mind or what had happened to the women in these two rooms lying across to each other. Stealing a quick glance at Kurenai's room, he sent out a sigh of relief.

Kurenai had awoken about few days ago with Kakashi keeping an eye on her. As soon as she had awoken, her questions had only been about Hinata. She had also tried to jump out of bed to go see her beloved former student, but Kakashi stopped her, saying that she was still too weak for that. Of course no one told her that Hinata was right across her room, because everyone was sure that if they would tell her, Kurenai would surely want to do everything to go see her. Everyone had come to see Hinata and almost everyone left with a grim expression on their faces and a heavy heart. None of them seeming to accept this new Hinata.

He slowly opened the door to Hinata's room, his body immobilizing at the scene in front of him. "Hinata-sama, what are you doing?" His voice didn't sound surprised at all as he knew that sooner or later he would catch her. There she stood by the window, a foot already breathing the air outside. Hinata looked back at the person who just crushed her hope of escaping. As soon as she saw him, she distanced herself with a simple sigh from the window. "Caught in the act, what does it look like to you?" She boringly replied back, folding her arms in the process.

"You do know that this is the third floor don't you?" He saw her shoulders slightly twitch at his words but she immediately straightened back up. Hadn't she known? "Of course I knew. They keep me caged like a prisoner in a cell, how would one not attempt on evading?" It was clear that all these days locked in this room did make her in a worse mood than she already had been.

"Hinata-sama, why don't we go to the roof? Breathing fresh air could only do you good." With a quick skeptical look, Hinata headed to the doorway, Neji following behind her. Arrived at the rooftop, a mild gust of wind greeted their faces, providing them with the last bits of summer air left. Hinata was silently looking at the busy Konoha streets down below with the same frown that she had worn during the entire length of her stay.

"Hinata-sama, if I may, could I ask you a question?" "You just did." Her response was blunt and it seemed that no matter what he could possibly say or do was going to change her clouded mood better. After an uncomfortable silence Hinata continued. "If you must, ask away."

He tried to make her look at him with a pretended cough. It worked as he wanted it to because after a few seconds, she directed her eyes to him with an arched brow. "When is your revenge taking place?" The words left his mouth before he had even realized it. It had been bugging him since the very announcement of her supposed revenge.

Her reply was a humorless laugh, "Well, wouldn't like to know? After a little pause, she stared back to the bustling streets without actually paying the least interest to the people on them.

"Fine, I'll give you a little hint. When the sun reached its highest peak, a child's cry echoed through the day turned into night. The child nourished with hate begins its journey, far from the one's who fed it with negative feelings. Reaches the day where the clock strikes the time of the fugitive with a losing shoe and with it the end of the adulthood is near." _"A riddle huh_?" Tilting his head back in thought, Neji tried to search whatever leads the riddle gave away. Sadly the more the words repeated themselves in his head, the more they became incomprehensible. It was as if you were trying to hear someone whispering above all the music and talking on a festival day.

Suddenly, he turned back to Hinata; her face wearing the frown which he thought had been forgotten for a while. "Hinata-sama, is something wrong?" Hinata stayed quiet, her eyes glinting with something that resembled like threat which soon disappeared as she straightened her back, shaking her head. "Nothing." It was clearly not "nothing". Her frown was deepening, leaving Neji with the benefit of the doubt but said nothing, she wouldn't tell him even if he would ask.

"Neji can you leave me alone?" Even if it was a question, she wouldn't accept no as an answer. Still, he couldn't help but be intrigued. What if this was just a maneuver to let her the chance of escaping through the roof with many openings? Or was there really something lurking in the dark, something she didn't want him to be involved with? Then again, how could he not have sensed someone around?

She must have seen his hesitation by his constant sighs and spoke with a sincere voice tone "Don't worry, I won't run away. There's only one day left, why would I decide to leave now?" She had a point. After all, she had kept her word up until now besides the window accident and this was enough to convince him.

Neji nodded. "I'll leave you be then." He leapt off the hospital's roof to another and so on until he was out of sight.

Hinata folded her arms to her chest, "Get out you pesky rat." Her voice echoed through the empty rooftop. Except that it was not so empty. A black human shape jumped out of nowhere a few feet behind her. "It is impressive how your skills have matured, seeing as your cousin didn't even notice me." The manly voice spoke with confidence without any trace of intended threat.

"What do you want?" Hinata said dryly, trying to finish the unwanted conversation as soon as possible. The man straightened his glasses, a malicious look in his eyes. "I came solely to know your answer to my master's so kind proposition." "My answer was no, is no and will forever be no. Tell your boyfriend that whatever he might say or promise, I won't give in. I don't need him to be meddling into my business." Her voice showed irritation enough to drive away anyone who tried to convince her, but not Kabuto.

A cynical laugh resounded around them. "Dear Hinata-sama, Orochimaru-sama is certainly not my "boyfriend". As the new heiress, you became a precious item which my master took a horribly interest in. Nevertheless, I assure you that if you hadn't taken the title of heiress we would still be interested but maybe not so much." Straightening his glasses again he showed off his most marvelous devious smirk.

"Humph, whatever floats your boat." Hinata, still with her back facing the intruder, went back into looking at the scenery in front of her, looking at the gates which were practically begging for her to trespass them. But no, her mind wouldn't let her cheat on her words. She would remain here until tomorrow like a fierce tigress transformed into a tamed housecat. Her conversation with Kabuto was clearly finished in her point of view but on the other side, Kabuto wasn't ready to give up yet.

"I don't understand why you won't accept my master's proposition…We offer you something you could never have by other hands. We could surely help you with your revenge too." He slowly rolled the last words on his tongue, chanting something that might have looked like an attraction spell.

Hinata's scowled, still refusing to look back at a traitor. "Word sure spreads around fast in this village and in outside as well. This revenge is my own business; don't think you can try to stick your noses in this. What part of "no" can you not understand?"

The smirk on Kabuto's face didn't fade, in fact, it only grew wider. "Well, this is a golden opportunity no one would want to miss. Surely, there isn't only my master who is interested in you and your powers, but I heard of a certain someone who has been looking for you too. The name: Kazune Aika also called the Blood Bender." His voice went darker with each word he pronounced and he noticed Hinata's shoulder's slightly twitch at the forbidden name he just mentioned.

Her fists began to clench, the heat rising to her face as she did something she should have done at the very beginning of this encounter. With the speed of light, she shot a kunai which she had been hiding in her bra as protection at Kabuto, purposely missing him and only leaving a drawn line on his right cheek where a tiny drop of blood was starting to form on the end of the line. "Get out of my sight before you regret coming here in the first place!" She shouted with a glint of madness in her eyes. Hearing that name could turn her very insides up and down. It was a bad memory, the kind of memory you wish you could just one day wake up and qualify it as a bad dream not reality.

As the kunai had struck him, he had unconsciously taken a step back; his eyes widening at her sudden throw and at his own incapacity at avoiding the kunai but it seemed that it had been too fast for him to see it.

Kabuto took one more step back, straightening his glasses with a slightly trembling hand, his smirk wavering. "As you wish. My master won't be satisfied by my report so be prepared for his special coming to come get you. Farewell." With a short nod, he leap off, his black cape warped around him, making him look more like a shadow than the actual person.

Hinata's fists dug deeper into the small height metal fence she had put her hand upon, her face an indecipherable expression of disgust. "So, you made your move Aika? I'll be waiting until you find me."

-x-x-x-x-

Neji immediately knew who was the guy lazing on the roof and he was exactly the one he wanted to see. "Lazing like an old man again?"

Shikamaru diverted his eyes from the clouds he was so fascinated in to look at the shady character leaning down on him. "Oh? Neji weren't you supposed to be at the hospital or at the training ground or somewhere? I can't remember, it's too troublesome to memorize your schedule. You told me once and it entered through one ear and left through the other." With a sigh he lifted himself to sit straight, his legs crossing each other.

"I was chased away from the hospital…again." He added the last word with bitterness, receiving a curious yet understanding look on Shikamaru's face. "It was already like this since the beginning, why are you fussing over it again? I don't want to hear any more troublesome problems." With a quick apologetic glance toward Neji, he laid back down, his eyes returning to the sky.

Neji gave out a little laugh without having had the intention to. Never would he have expected in having Shikamaru as a best friend. It started a few days after Hinata's departure from the Hyuga compound on that cold night. He was one of the few closest friends that helped him the most. He sent out permissions for a search party and even asked the Hokage herself if she could let all the higher ups people from different villages know about the situation. They started working together to find her and get her back. It could have worked perfectly with Shikamaru's strategies but it didn't. They were already too late and Hinata too far, in an unknown place. When Neji had asked him why he would do that just to bring somebody he didn't even have that much to do with, he simply said, "I don't want to repeat history."

"Oh, what a surprise! You can laugh? Tch, come on, are you going to tell me what's wrong with the I-always-have-a-frown-on-my-face heiress?" "I thought you said you didn't want to hear me out?" Shikamaru looked back at him with an impatient face, telling him he was only doing it out of sympathy when truly he wanted to know what's been bothering his friend.

"She finally came back, but not without a plan. You saw how she changed right? I can't predict what she is going to do next." Neji sighed sadly, sitting on the ground next to Shikamaru. His friend arched an eyebrow, "What plan? Was it the plan to quit her team because if it is, it's already done." With a single wave of his hand he turned back to the clouds, thinking that the conversation had ended. Of course, Neji had known about her quitting her team, he had seen her former teammates completely broken, more like, their hearts had been seriously damaged.

Neji put a hand on his arm, trying to get his attention, "Vengeance." He saw Shikamaru's eyes widening for a moment, his eyes still set on the scenery above. "I knew that she got wilder but I didn't think it was that much." His answer made Neji almost laugh, but he restrained it. "Even though she didn't exactly tell me what she had in mind, I know that if I want to stop her, I would have to fight her. I have no idea when she is actually executing her plan but she gave me a riddle and asked me to figure the date out of it, which is not easy."

Shikamaru was silent all through Neji's report, eying the sky as if searching for any unusual occurrence. Slowly, he spoke up. "That's why you came to me right? The riddle, let me hear it out. I might find something to help you." "When the sun reached its highest peak, a child's cry echoed through the day turned into night. The child nourished with hate begins its journey, far from the one's who fed it with negative feelings. Reaches the day where the clock strikes the time of the fugitive with a losing shoe and with it the end of the adulthood is near."

"Hmm." Shikamaru sat up again, cupping his chin with one hand. "There are some parts that confuse me, but I might figure it out if I think some much. But, today I don't feel like doing anything, it's too troublesome to get any more work than I had today. More so, I think she won't do it anytime soon anyway, rest assured." With a faint smile, Shikamaru laid back down, wondering how many times he had done the same action today.

A cold wind brushed Neji's long hair as he replied with a warm voice. "Thank you." Oh, and how thankful he was! Up until now, he had searched for many familiar faces for comfort or to confide in, but he had found none. Tenten was always uncomfortable around him since her confession and the air was totally tense around them whenever Lee wasn't around. Lee had been shocked with Sakura's choice of boyfriend and got his feelings hurt because of it. He has constantly been training to forget his unrequited love and it seemed that nothing but training didn't matter to him anymore. Why does love always have to hurt people? He wouldn't know the answer for he, has never fallen in love.

"She sure got quite interesting. She was the type of shy girl, always sitting in a far corner on her own, never catching any attention whatsoever. I kind of like her boldness." Shikamaru's voice didn't sound boring like it usually did. His voice was calm and peaceful, was he maybe interested in Hinata?

"Shikamaru are you..?" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence; somehow his heart had sunk at his friend's confession. Shikamaru unusually gave out one of his rare laughs, "Who knows? My relationship with Temari was too troublesome; maybe I'm just searching for something else you know? You can stop me before something can happen though I'm not entirely sure if she would feel the same way. I'm not at the point where I can say that I'm in love or some crap like that, but I'm awfully attracted to your cousin." His eyes were piercing into Neji's and they were so sincere that he couldn't bring himself to say for him to stay away. Why would he? It's not like he was especially tied to Hinata or that he loved her, but he did like her if it was in a more than friendship way, he couldn't say.

"It's true that I am Hinata-sama's protector, but it doesn't mean that I have to butt into her love life. She chooses who she wants even if I happen to disagree, I will accept her choice. I think that if it's you, then I won't have anything against it." It took him almost all the breath in his lungs to be able to speak out those words.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at him for a moment and then he stood up, offering Neji a hand. "You know, I'm only saying this once. If you don't grab what you want directly, somebody might come before you and steal it away from you to Neverland." Shikamaru said, smirking while lifting him up. Neji opened and closed his mouth in a loss for words. Then after his friend patted his back in sympathy, he leapt off the roof, leaving a speechless Neji behind.

-x-x-x-x-

The next day Hinata was discharged from the hospital and was directly called by the Hokage. They were walking in the hallways; the eyes of all the Jônin present at the time were looking at them and most importantly at Hinata. Wherever she might go, her presence was as overwhelming as ever and the rumors spreading about her recent activities were only pilling up. Arrived at the Hokage's office, they were greeted by an annoyed looking Tsunade sitting behind her desk, piles of papers resting on both four edges of the desk.

"Ah, you're here. Good, I won't dawdle on this too much. I know it might be still quite early for you to go on mission since you only just got released from hospital. On the other hand, having heard from reliable sources what happened to the Hyuga compound makes me believe you are more than ready for it." Tsunade's voice clearly matched her annoyed expression, as she hadn't left her eyes from the file she was looking at.

"I'll take it. Give me the information needed and I'm on it." Neji's face fell, she only got released today and she was already ready up to go break a bone or two?

Tsunade suddenly sat still, "So it's true…" Her voice was barely an inch above a whisper. "Perfect. This is an A-rank mission, so I want you to go with Neji to the surroundings of Kusa village. There in a hidden forest, a mansion is located which we assume is the main headquarters of the Arcana plant dealers. The Arcana plant is a forbidden herb which highly increases your capacity of using Chakra much longer than it would normally do. The only side effect is that this plant causes high damages on a person's health without this one knowing as it hits on the inside of one's body. There will be an assembly with high personalities who of course are totally unaware of the mess they are going to butt in as they think of it as a simple charity party. Anyway, go infiltrate the so called "party" and stay undercover, no one must know you came from Konoha, especially the leader, Sawachika Kio. Headbands of the village of Kusa will be provided to you so you can meld in with the guards who will be watching over the crowd. Here is the mission scroll; further information is displayed in there." She had been pacing back and forth around the office when she finally stopped to reach out the scroll.

Hinata had kept her eyes focused on the Hokage's speech, not letting one single information escape her ears. Without hesitation she grabbed the scroll, turning back to the door. "This will be easily done, expect my return within 4 days. Then I'll be going." However, before she could actually reach the door, her name got called. "You know how I like hardworking people and how rumors to me are just fairytales to my ears until I really have a reason to believe them. I hope you are as good as they told me you were."

Hinata turned around, shortly bowing her head before replying, "Count on it, I won't let you down." Then she walked out of the office, not even giving a glance back to Neji to see if he was following what he didn't do directly. After Hinata's leave, Neji deeply bowed to the Hokage. It was a move he had done so many times these last two years in front of the same person. Was it to apologize? Or was it the fear of not being up to the Hokage's expectations? Either way, he knew that this time she wouldn't let him get of the hook. This golden proposal, as she liked to call it, was one of a kind, one that most people wouldn't hesitate even one second to accept but he, was different. With his current position as the next heiress' protector, it was unacceptable for him to even consider of accepting the Hokage's offer.

"With me deepest regret, I can't-." She cut him right off by putting a finger under his jaw, pushing it upwards to force him to look at her. "Neji, before declining it again, consider it one more time." Her voice was gentle; it was one of the rare times he had seen her speak with such sympathy. He also thanked his heart for not having to endure an outburst from the Hokage. To be truthful he had awaited for her to force her proposal down his throat without having any digestive by hand.

Her eyes wandered to the closed door which had been used lastly by Hinata. In a fraction of a second he could have sworn that he had seen a little glint of worry in the female Hokage's eyes but it quickly got replaced by an expressionless glance at him.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, Tsunade quirked up a smile. "Go. Hinata must be waiting for you." A silence followed in which he saw her hesitate before resuming. "Even though she might say that she doesn't need any help, you are the only one she won't mind having around. Just keep sticking by her and I'm sure your father would be proud of you." These words had touched his heart, so he gave another bow, more sincere than the previous one, before leaving the Hokage's office.

"_Even though she said I shouldn't keep her waiting, I doubt she would have really waited for me."_ All along the hallway, he had doubted about the fact of her waiting outside for him but he just couldn't quiet that little voice down inside which told him that maybe, just maybe, what he had doubted wrongly.

Indeed, he had wanted to pinch himself as the person who was leaning on the wall to his left at the exit was Hinata. Her arms crossed and her usual frown set on her white snowy face. His jaw couldn't probably drop any low than it already was.

As soon as she had noticed him, she pushed herself away from the wall, turning her back to him. "You have one hour to get your preparation done for the mission. We'll meet at the village gates after said hour. Until then I have some business to clear on my own." Without letting him place a word, she leapt away at a fast pace, leaving an indecisive Neji behind.

"Should I have followed her?" As expected he came to the meeting spot fifteen minutes ahead of time and with nothing to do, he started to question himself about Hinata's whereabouts. Of course he had been tempted by the idea to follow her, but would he have stepped so lowly as to become another shadow in a world already full of them? No, he wouldn't dare and he indeed didn't dare even though he wouldn't deny about him being curious.

Neji let out a quiet sigh when suddenly a voice arose a few feet away. "Neji! How're doing?" That voice…It was still as annoying as ever, always gathering the attention of anyone who had the misfortune of being present. He turned around only to discover that he got another fateful encounter with the complexed couple.

"Hello, Haruno and Na-wait what are you hugging me for?" At his facing to the couple, Naruto had lunged forward, pulling the almost blushing Neji into a hug. All kinds of strange scenarios played through his head but decided to turn to the only lucid person present.

"Euhm, Haruno-?" He couldn't pull any more words as Naruto let go. The blonde's eyes illuminated and his mouth formed his so known goofy smile. "Hehe, just seeing you off! Heard from the grandma that you were leaving for a top secret mission with Hinata-chan, so we came to see you two a last time before you leave." _"And that was worth a hug_?" Apparently sensing Neji's confusion, Sakura turned to him with a reassuring smile. "He always goes around hugging people he knows after a good dose of the new ramen type that was just posted on the menu. It's like a side effect, but strangely he only does it to guys…" She shrugged her shoulders as if to say that there was nothing that she could do to prevent it.

The three of them began chatting cheerfully about the mission and as expected, there was no way Neji could call it a secret mission as it had already been known to Naruto, everyone knew what was likely to come. He would whine to everybody around and ask why he didn't receive a secret mission too, ensuing that the risk of everybody knowing about the mission.

"I see you are ahead of your time." The deep female's voice he recognized as Hinata's, rose above their three voices and Neji turned around. The couple followed his gesture, Sakura taking a step back, a movement that didn't surprise Neji at all. He just wished that the same wouldn't happen to the blonde boy whose mouth began curling up to a smile.

"Hinata-chan, how're you doing? I didn't see you for ages!" He excitedly exclaimed like a little dog barking for attention. "Naruto, it's been quite long I agree and drop the suffix, it isn't needed." She retorted back with an emotionless voice, her smile, one for contentment not at all for happiness. At first, Naruto stayed quiet, his face frozen, and then he oddly smiled back to her.

Hinata turned back to Neji, her smile already gone from her lips. "It's time to leave." With this single sentence, she began leaving for the gates, her red blood cape following behind, but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Was there something else, Naruto?" This time her smile didn't appear.

Naruto looked hesitant, his hand tightly griped on her shoulder. Neji, confused about what he might want to do, looked over to Sakura for enlightenment, but this one had been having a sudden admiration for the ground since Hinata came.

"You sound just like an old friend of mine." Naruto said, giving a gentle tap on her shoulder. Hinata blinked a few times before raising her contentment smile once again but answered nothing back. Instead, she began walking for the gates again, not once looking back. Before following his cousin, Neji waved goodbye to the couple, receiving a nod combined with a smile from Sakura and an energetic wave of Naruto giving him his goofy smile. Catching up to Hinata, he began reflecting on what had happened a few seconds ago. Something that seemed to have lasted for seconds seemed like hours. The heavy atmosphere that had reigned on them had made Neji feel powerless. Why were there only more people being hurt by Hinata's change? Looking at Sakura and how she acted around Hinata made it clear that she got so affected by the change that she's feeling intimidated and distant. Will it be that way forever?

Sakura worriedly took a glance at Naruto and asked herself why he was acting so natural now that he's seen the new Hinata. Then again, Naruto was the type to be cheerful about everything without asking questions or even think of reasoning himself. "Naruto…" Her voice trailed off, not knowing where to start. It surely had affected her a great deal so why was he watching them going so cheerfully?

"Sakura, if we don't tie our precious people to us, then one day, they're gonna run far away from you. So, you've gotta keep 'em and never let 'em go. Also, if I don't do this, I'm going to regret it later." Before she could even place a word, Naruto rushed outside the gates, shouting from the top of his lungs to the two Hyuga cousins. "Hinata, Neji, have a safe trip! Come back alive you hear me!"

Neji stopped sharp on his tracks, wondering if Hinata would just continue walking without a word. Surprisingly she stopped a moment, then turned her head and shouted over her shoulder. "Humph, you can count on it." Neji only gave an understanding nod resuming his walking beside Hinata. There was that smile again. Was it only reserved for Naruto? No, he had seen that smile somewhere but when was it? "_Ah yes, whenever I filled out a task she would always give out that smile to herself. It's a smile of self-satisfaction…"_ A smile that was for nobody else than herself.

The journey would last a full day until reaching their final destination. They already made quite a way in just a few hours without having had proper rest. Whenever they were out on break, he would notice Hinata's impatient comings and goings. With two weeks being forced to lie on a hospital bed, made her blood only boil more than the usual with anticipation of the fights to come. Lately, her eyes had been wandering from left to right, her face in awful concentration as if she was trying to predict if someone wanted to assault them.

Silence was their comrade during their walk with Hinata marching in front of him. Suddenly he saw her stop and he did the same barely two inches of distance left between them. "Neji, walk in front of me." Her voice was barely above a whisper and he arched a brow at her order but executed it without questioning her. They changed their positions and began walking again but something was bugging him. Hinata's footsteps behind him were different and he stopped again. Her back bumped into him but as he tried to turn around and ask what was possibly happening, she hissed to him silently. "Don't stop, just continue walking. I'll be watching from the back, just act normally." "But Hinata-sama-" He couldn't finish his sentence as he felt a murderous aura emanating from the surroundings, his eyes prepared to execute the Byakugan technique.

"At twelve!" As soon as Hinata's voice resounded in his ears, his hands automatically executed an air palm, pointing it directly in front of him as Hinata ordered. Air formed by his palm hit the thug that had appeared at the very same moment Hinata told him the thug's position. How he had figured out what the twelve she had spoken out meant, that he couldn't say.

"At four!" "At nine!" "At three!" Again and again, he had executed his technique at every command she gave him as if he were the doll and she were the one pulling his strings. He had hit on all the thugs, sending them fly in all directions at an incredible speed. Seeing as she hadn't said anything for a few seconds, he thought the assault attempt was over and began to relax down. He directly thought otherwise as Hinata's fierce hold on his arm made him swirl around with two commanding words. "At six!"

There again his hand had risen itself and hit the appearing thug sending him flying a few feet away on the hard ground. Neji smiled in contentment and turned around to Hinata but she had completely vanished. His eyes narrowed for better surroundings, his 360° view giving him images of badly hurt thugs in the distance instead of his vanished cousin. The thugs ran with awful difficulty away as soon as they were able to stand, this had only confirmed Neji's presumptions on the thugs being low skilled ninja.

After a few patient moments Hinata reappeared in front of him two knocked out thugs one in each of her two hands, dropping them to the ground as soon as her feet had touched the ground. She cleaned out the dust from her clothes in a nonchalantly manner locking her eyes with his. "You did well." She calmly said, the corner of her mouth slightly twitched for a smile but without apparent success, returned to a thin line. Neji nodded, only now noticing how synchronized their attack was. She had been there, keeping watch on his back, controlling the situation on her own. All along, she had been the eyes and he the body.

"_Did she just praise me?"_ This sudden realization made his heart thump a little harder than the usual, forgetting that he had just been left behind by his cousin.

-x-x-x-x-

In the hospital, the atmosphere was as busy as ever. The nurse's were hurrying down the halls, calling the doctors to different places at once, not realizing that one special patient was clandestinely leaving her room which she had been forbidden to leave.

As her legs had been severely damaged, she had to put all her effort on her arms to keep herself balanced on the wall glued handrail. Thank goodness, a handrail had been installed for the patients on the walls, without it, she would be screwed. Also, it was incredible how no one even gave a second glance at her, seen as it was obvious that her legs would give in at any moment now but she kept going forward, no matter how painful it might be or how crazy it might look.

As she had expected it, her legs trembled with pain, making her loose her balance, her hands barely able to grip the handrail, let go. "Kurenai!" It wasn't seconds after she had heard this familiar voice that she fell onto something soft and warm. She looked up and saw her friend Kakashi who had caught her in time.

"Where do you possibly think you could go with that leg injury?" His voice was stern with a gentle intention behind. Kurenai tried to break fee from his grasp but the energy left was only enough to keep herself standing, resulting for her to only being able to swing her arms back and forth.

Kakashi kept a straight face, his eyes indifferent to her pleadings on letting her go. "Please Kakashi, just let me see her!" "Even if you offered me a thousand volumes of my favorite book, I wouldn't let you go. Only an insane person would do that or a pervert, depends on from which angle you see it." She looked up to see if he had just made a joke but he remained completely serious. With no more energy to debate on her want, she let herself fall on his chest. With a sigh, he lifted her up and carried her in his arms all the way to her hospital room.

Arrived at the room, he gently laid her on the bed, pushing a nearby lying chair near her bed with his foot. He sat in front of her, her eyebrows rising in surprise at his empty hands. "It is rare that I see you without your book in your hands as usual." His face that had been so serious a few minutes ago, relaxed, a gentle smile playing about his lips. "Let's say that it isn't appropriate to open it up in a hospital." _"Ahh~ I lied. Actually I have it warmly rested in my pocket."_

These last two weeks, he had spent them between doing missions and hospital visits, mainly to Kurenai as Hinata had been in a horribly constant bad mood during his visits but he had soon found out that he hadn't been the only one to suffer through that ordeal. Kurenai had awoken only a few days ago and had been constantly asking to go see Hinata and he was always there to keep her from doing something as crazy as escaping through the window. Who knows what a dedicated sensei could do to only catch a glimpse of his or her favorite pupil? If that wasn't enough, seeing how in so a bad state Kurenai was, Asuma had only visited her a few times, leaving her as soon as he found her state "correct". _"That bastard should have visited her more times!"_ He was left alone in his thoughts again when Kurenai called him up.

"Say Kakashi how is she? Where is she?" He knew she had more questions but figured that it he wouldn't be able to answer them. "She's okay, I guess." _"If you could call being moody and aggressive "okay" that is."_ He kept his comment to himself as he saw the crimson eyed woman divert her gaze to the ground.

"Anyway, what were you doing out there in that state no less? Didn't you say that the stake mentioned for you to leave her alone since you lost?" He scolded her like a mother who just caught her child stealing candy.

Kurenai looked up to him with puppy eyes, leaving for him no choice as to soften his face expression. "I know I look like one of this over-protective mothers but I don't know how to act otherwise. That child chose the wrong path and somehow my heart can't accept it to just sit down and bark like a helpless chained dog. With time I think I could try to slowly let go but for now, let me worry a little bit more. Time heals everything." Her voice was sorrowful and silent almost like a gentle breeze in a hot summer afternoon and her answer was the reason why he hid from her Hinata's stay at the hospital. If she had known that her favorite student had been right in the opposite room as hers, god knows what she would have done.

"Kurenai…" He was in a loss for words when Kurenai spoke again with a cheerful voice. "Asuma came by a little earlier before going for a new mission. He really works hard doesn't he?" She began giggling to herself and Kakashi, trying as he might to hide the sour expression he had so well hid during all these years at the mention of that name through her lips. These feelings she knew nothing about, were for him his only escapade when things were becoming hard.

He lifted himself from the chair fumbling in his pockets for his book, stopping when he realized he had really forgotten it. _"Darn it, I was so concentrated on coming here that I left it back home."_

"Are you leaving already?" She tilted her head to the side a questioning look on her face and that had been enough for him to sit back on the chair. _"Oh well, I might as well stay."_ Yes, these feelings no one knew something about, let's just cherish them a little longer before it fades into a memory.

-x-x-x-x-

It was becoming darker as the moon rose up to the midst of the stars when the Hyuga cousins decided to stay at an Inn secluded from the village they had just bypassed. The Inn had a sad atmosphere around it as if it had been abandoned a long time ago but upon entering it, their vision changed completely. Inside it, the walls were decorated with traditional paintings and masks, the floor never left of carpets and comfortable couches against the walls.

The owner, a 93-years-old couple of grandparents, led them through the Inn to their separate rooms, mentioning the hot spring that could be used at any moment they wished for it. Apparently, as the couple said, they were the only customers as of now so it was natural that they were so well treated, seen as the majority of their clientele only came during holidays.

Neji had left to the hot spring as soon as he informed it to Hinata. Thus, with only a white towel worn around his waist, he slowly crept into the hot steaming water, settling himself on a round stone for comfort. He closed his eyes in contentment, feeling disappointed with the stone being in the centre of the spring, resulting in having nothing to lie back onto.

Suddenly he heard something splashing in the water and he instantly opened his eyes. Upon seeing what was the cause of his attempt on relaxing interruption, his eyes widened themselves with surprise, his cheeks a fervently pink, not because of the hot temperature but because of his nearly naked cousin, making her way through the water to him.

Her hair had been put into a bun with Japanese traditional sticks holding it up, her chest barely holding up the towel wounded around her well formed body. Her shoulders as well as her tights that had been hidden by the bandages showed some mild scars and his mind eased, forgetting about the possibility about her having something more horrible hidden. His heart was gaining speed at every step she took. At any moment he figured that he could suddenly have a heart attack, so much this situation was not appropriate when his eyes caught a sign near the sliding entrance doors. "Mixed bath." Damn, he should've read the sign before as he was certain that Hinata had wanted to go too but a part of him still thanked him for choosing this one.

Neji was trying to correctly perform the words he wanted to say to her as she beat him to it. "What is that face for? Did you never have a mixed bath before?" She rose up a questioningly brow as his face froze. So she knew that this was a mixed bath but why was she so relaxed? Did she already have one before to be able to ask him that?

His mind was constantly searching for an answer but his cousin only sighed making a sign with her hand to make space. The stone he was sitting on was a large one, large enough for two people to sit on, so he shifted back to one corner of the stone. He was waiting for her to sit beside him but she didn't. Instead of making what he thought she would do, she sat in front of him, between his bare legs. To that point he asked himself why she was doing all what seemed to be embarrassing and a "first" for him, when her back came softly flowing down on his chest and he prayed to god for her to not let his heart beatings be heard.

"Neji, don't you remember how we used to bathe together as children?" Her voice was an indifferent one as if she had been talking about the weather they had tonight. His heart thumping echoed in his ears, making it hard for him to even concentrate on what she was saying. "We would bathe together and you're mother would laugh at us playing with the soap." He mustered all his courage on the following sentence. "Yes, I remember." And how he remembered! Sometimes he would find himself dreaming about those days as children and how beautiful the world had seemed in his eyes but that was over now. His mother was now gone too and he asked himself how she even remembered about his mother even though she had seen her a very few times, most when they were bathing.

"Hinata-sama, why are you suddenly remembering those days?" He expected a warm filled answer, something different from her usual bad moods. "Your mothers as well as your father are the only one's I have always appreciated. It is good they aren't present to watch what that corrupted clan is now and what it awaits." There she had gone in breaking a good atmosphere again, strangely her voice hadn't changed it was still that silent indifferent tone.

"Your hair." She paused, raising her arm above her head, probably searching his head. Neji hesitated to take her hand to show her the way but quickly resolved into taking it of fear that she could give up on wanting to search for it. So, he grabbed her hand with delicacy, guiding her fingers to his hair which he had carefully tied up. Her head laid back to rest on his collarbone, sending him shivers all around his body, to get better access to his hair. She began to softly stroke his hair in an up and down movement until she found out the stick holding his hair up. With a clever play from her fingers, she loosened it, letting his hair fall like a waterfall to the water. Then, Hinata resumed, "I remember correctly, it was your mother who wanted you to grow up your hair wasn't it?" He had been so mesmerized by her smooth skin that her bare neck made him feel and her never-ending strokes that he was barely able to keep his eyes open and his ears ready to listen. The silence stretched though the night as Hinata suddenly got up, her fingers leaving his lone hair.

"It's time to go to bed. Tomorrow will be the great deal." His hair was already missing her touch, his skin crying aloud for the woman's skin that should have never left and he was feeling disappointed that it had been so short. Trying to keep his composure he nodded back and said goodnight, watching her hips moving at the speed of her walking but diverting his eyes right back when he felt he had been biting the forbidden devil's fruit enough times today.

Just before Hinata opened the door to the changing rooms, she spoke a few last words of advice to him. "One last thing. Never let your guard down, even more if it's a woman. You look like someone who could be easily seduced with only a few innocent moves, ensuing for you to give out secrets others shouldn't know." With that she closed the door behind her, leaving a dumbfounded Neji behind. _"Had she been testing me?_" He wouldn't' t know the answer and somehow he felt cheated but something his cousin wouldn't know was that he would only feel that way under her touch and hers only as of now. Of course, he couldn't deny that he had felt awfully attracted to her even if it appeared to happen only recently, he knew that this wouldn't be the last time his heart had thumped that hard. The only question left was, how was he supposed to sleep through the night with only a paper door separating their rooms?

* * *

_See you in the next chapter! Chapter 4: Mission start!_


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